March 2024 President's Letter
By Ann Paul, Tampa Audubon President
There is one thing about the Audubon Society that seems confusing to some folks, so I thought this would be a good time for some clarification.
As we mention at every Membership Meeting, Tampa Audubon Society (TAS) is an active chapter of the National Audubon Society (NAS) and Audubon Florida (AudFL). We serve Hillsborough County, including the greater Tampa Bay area and its suburbs, from Citrus Park to Bayshore and from Odessa to Plant City. In the February Avocet newsletter, I bragged about TAS’ accomplishments in 2023. (See https://www.tampaaudubon.org/newsletter) Now I want to discuss NAS’ programs. We are part of this work, and there is a lot to be proud of.
The NAS is centered in New York City, with 31 state offices (AudFL is one), 32 nature centers, 23 Sanctuaries (including the Florida Coastal Islands Sanctuaries, the Center for Birds of Prey in Maitland, and Corkscrew Swamp Sanctuary near Naples), 130 campus chapters, and 450+ Audubon chapters, including TAS. It’s a big organization with a budget of over $160 million. See the Annual Report https://www.audubon.org/about/reports-financials.
NAS’ initiatives are broad-ranging and include environmental and climate legislation across the nation and at international gatherings, such as the United Nations Biodiversity Conference in Montreal. NAS is working with 12 Countries to forge international partnerships across Latin America, the Caribbean, and Canada, ensuring we can protect birds year-round from sea to sea and pole to pole.
NAS’ Flight Plan is a bold strategic plan addressing the mounting threats birds face throughout the hemisphere. NAS’ overarching goal focuses on halting, and ultimately reversing, the precipitous decline of birds across the hemisphere, to keep migrating and other birds safe throughout their annual cycles.
NAS’ work across the hemisphere uses, among other things, federal funding from the Flyways of the Americas Neotropical Migratory Bird Conservation Act (passed in 2000) to protect coasts, wetlands, grasslands, ranches, and important bird habitats in North and Central America.
So whether you join TAS or NAS – it is the same thing. A good way to go is to join online at https://www.tampaaudubon.org/join . We send in your membership information and money to NAS – one membership includes NAS, AudFL, and TAS all-together. This works because TAS is the local chapter of NAS, and AudFL is NAS working in Florida. It’s a simple division of labor and expertise:
· NAS concentrates on national and international conservation efforts.
· AudFL addresses Florida conservation efforts.
· TAS works on Hillsborough County conservation efforts.
Working in Florida with our AudFL staff, NAS’ work is leading the restoration of the Everglades, the Corkscrew ecosystem and watershed, coastal bird nesting, and more. I’ll offer more information about the work of AudFL next month! Stay tuned!
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