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Resolution Declaring Minneapolis a Pollinator-Friendly Community

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Resolution Declaring Minneapolis a Pollinator-Friendly Community

Date approved: August 21, 2015

Resolution Number: 2015R-357 committing the City of Minneapolis to increase pollinator forage (including native plants) and decrease use of pesticides.

HIGHLIGHTS

Applies to all City-owned and controlled property.

Increases planting of pollinator-friendly plants. The Public Works Department, the Community Planning and Economic Development Department, Minneapolis Convention Center and the Property Services Division of the City Coordinator’s Office will pursue planting more pollinator forage on City and City-controlled property (including vacant land).

No pesticides or pesticide treated plants. The only pesticides use by a City-affiliated entity is limited, topical, and reactive use of certain classes of pesticides. The Convention Center agrees to phase out. The Public Works Department will adopt clear guidelines against the use of pesticides and pesticide treated plants and consider amendments to the Vegetation Management Policy.

Education and Advocacy. The City of Minneapolis will encourage property owners to adopt pollinator-friendly practices and continue to advocate at the State and Federal level for increased authority over pollinator-friendly policies.

RESOURCES

• Minnesota bee friendly plants beelab.umn.edu/sites/beelab.umn.edu/files/plants_mn_bees.pdf

• For additional information please contact Minneapolis Environmental Services www.ci.minneapolis.mn.us/environment/index.htm

The Minneapolis adopted Pollinator Resolution can be found at www.ci.minneapolis.mn.us/sustainability/approach/policies/WCMS1P-149866

 

 


2017 Minnesota Water Action Day!

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Join us on Wednesday, April 19th for the 2017 Minnesota Water Action Day! This is a day of public action and advocacy to let lawmakers know we care about our water. This all-day event will include a rally, issue trainings and meetings with your legislators. Come for all or part of the day.

There will be trainings in the morning, both on how to actively engage legislators and on the water issues that we face in Minnesota. Throughout the day there will be events and other ways to keep people engaged, and the rally will be held in the Capitol Rotunda at 1:30 pm.

What: Water Action Day

When: Wednesday, April 19th – Meetings with your representatives throughout the day** – Rally in the Rotunda at 1:30 pm

Where: Christ Lutheran Church – 105 University Ave W, St. Paul, MN 55103 and the Capitol Why: Because now is a time we need to Protect Our Water * Transportation is being coordinated from Greater Minnesota * Parking information, both free and low cost, is included in your registration confirmation email.

“Minnesota’s Environment Under Siege: Effective Conservation Advocacy in Our Era.”

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June 27 –  7:30 pm at Izaak Walton League Breckenridge Chapter House  – 8816 West River Road in Brooklyn Park, Don ArnostiMinnesota’s Environment Under Siege: Effective Conservation Advocacy in Our Era

Don has for 30 years been involved in Minnesota conservation advocacy on behalf of several organizations and their membership.  This includes a total of 14 years as Audubon State Director and Policy Director, and, for the past three years as Conservation Program Director for the Izaak Walton League.  Don has experience in forest, wetland, agriculture, clean water, wildlife and grassland policy and issues.  He and his wife Meg have raised three children to love their Earth, starting perhaps with the Boundary Waters Wilderness.

Overpopulation Crisis

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July 25 –  7:30 pm at Izaak Walton League Breckenridge Chapter House  – 8816 West River Road in Brooklyn Park, Karen Shragg,   “Overpopulation Crisis”

Karen is a lifelong environmentalist, naturalist, educator, author and overpopulation activist. She began her career as a naturalist in 1983 and as the director of the City of Richfield’s Wood Lake Nature Center in 1991. She is passionate about the role nature centers can make in keeping communities thriving. She is a former public and private school teacher and received two of her three degrees from the University of Minnesota, all in education in the years: 1975 and 1985. Karen received her doctorate from the University of St. Thomas in 2002 where she studied critical pedagogy and its implications for the future of nature centers.

She writes children’s books, the most well known of which is the Nature’s Yucky series by Mountain Press. Her books for adults are “Grieving Outside the Box, Stories of Hope and Resilience” and The Wolf Within, Poems to Awaken and Inspire in Times Like these and Organic Dreams and Pickled Nightmares, a Pocketful of Political Poems for the Resistance. She also conducts lectures on topics ranging from,” How to Write Children’s Books,” to “Vegetarian Wild Edible Cooking.”

As a member of the advisory board of the non-profit “World Population Balance”, she has become deeply alarmed by the lack of discourse surrounding the overpopulation crisis. In 2015, her book Move Upstream, A Call for Overpopulation was published by Freethought House Press. She writes articles lectures about  her book and this long ignored topic to a wide variety of groups. She was invited to speak about this issue in both China ( 2016) and England (2017).

Douglas Snyder – Mississippi Watershed Management Organization

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August 22nd –  7:30 pm at Izaak Walton League Breckenridge Chapter House  – 8816 West River Road in Brooklyn Park, Douglas Snyder, Executive Director – Mississippi Watershed Management Organization, “What we do, Where we work, Water Problems”

Doug’s interest in water resources began at the University of Minnesota as a graduate student in landscape architecture. Doug participated in several multi-disciplinary research projects at College of Architecture and Landscape Architecture and Center for Urban and Regional Affairs regarding the use and management the Boundary Waters and St. Croix River. Doug has worked in water resource management in various capacities for the last 25 years. Doug started at the Board of Water and Soil Resources (BWSR); first creating a metro region GIS wetland assessment tool, then as a Planner, and finally as a Board Conservationist. Doug has been the Executive Director at the Mississippi Watershed Management Organization since 2002. As the Executive Director of Mississippi Watershed Management Organization, Doug serves as principal administrator for the organization. Doug is responsible for the implementation of the watershed policies, standards, projects, and initiatives as set forth by the MWMO Board of Commissioners in the watershed management plan, joint and cooperative agreement, and bylaws.

 

 

 

BACKYARD BIRDS, BLOOMS & BUGS

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Tuesday, September 5th – Sher Curry at 7:00 pm at Beth El Synagogue, 5225 Barry St W, St. Louis Park  –  “BACKYARD BIRDS, BLOOMS & BUGS”

A personal look at what works for Sher to attract birds to her yard.   Nature photographer, Sher Curry, will discuss plants that attract birds, along with how the bugs interact with the birds and the plants.   She will have photographs and info about these and tell you what works best for her. 

BIO:  

Sher Curry was born in Minneapolis and lived in the metro area most of her life.  She spent most of her childhood in the huge wooded lots behind her home which are now county parks.  She has always loved the great outdoors and everything nature has to offer.  Her education is in Veterinary Medicine and she worked as a Veterinary Laboratory Technician at the Emergency Animal Hospitals for many years.  After that she was in small office management, customer service and accounting positions.  She has given several presentations at metro Garden Clubs and some of the Audubon Chapters and other Birding Clubs. 

Sher is a skillful nature photographer and has been for many years.  Over the past four years her passion has been water birds of all kinds, found primarily in Minnesota.  Many hours are spent in the field searching for and photographing her subjects.  She is constantly on the search for new spots and new birds to capture. Sher also is an advocate of educating people she meets about the proper consideration and respect of wildlife and the areas they live in.  Her primary focus is to tell a story with incorporating the landscape and areas these birds are found in. 

She is also a water color artist and uses some of her photographs for inspiration in her paintings.

“WHY HONDURAS” by Wilmer Fernandez

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2017  OCT 3, 7:00 p.m. at

Beth El Synagogue,

5224 W. 26th Street,

St Louis Park, MN  55416

 “WHY HONDURAS” by Wilmer Fernandez

This presentation will highlight the connections between Minnesota and Honduras related to the migratory birds that are common here in our Spring/Summer but spend Winter in the Central/South America region.

It will also showcase various opportunities for birding and adventure travel as well as local conservation efforts to preserve habitats in the country. Honduras offers several habitat types, from rainforest, pine-oak forest, mangrove, sandy beaches to cloud forests. That diversity in ecosystems explains the huge variety of birds, nearly 800 species have been observed in the country.

The purpose of my presentation is getting you excited about birding, conservation and to make you realize the connections between Minnesota and Honduras to the point that you would include Honduras in your list of potential birding destinations.

“Why Honduras” will focus on:

Overview of topographical regions and climate

Birding maps

Minnesota/Honduras Connection – sample migrants

Example of local conservation efforts – PANACAM and Fuente de Vida

Birding tours examples

and How to get to Honduras

BIO:  Wilmer Fernandez is a business analyst in the Project Management department of Rosemount.  He is a birding enthusiast living in the metro area for more than 20 years, but grew up in Honduras, in a banana plantation in the northern coast of Honduras where his dad worked for Chiquita.  He grew up enjoying the outdoors there – mostly hiking in the Sula Valley and the nearby mountains.  Wilmer came to this part of the world to finish his undergraduate in Economics at the University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire, and later a Master’s degree at the University of St Thomas.  In the last four years he has been spending more time outdoors birding, learning more about conservation, bird habitats and logging his observations in eBird.  Wilmer and his wife Shanelle travel to Honduras every year to visit family and friends and to go birding when time allows.  As part of his professional career as a consultant, he has traveled extensively; having visited around 30 countries.  One of his current hobbies is the promotion of birding and specifically birding in Honduras where he has partnered with his friends to bring groups down to see the wonders that Honduras has to offer.  He is more interested in the one-to-one exchange/transfer of ideas and knowledge related to birding and habitat conservation between local communities here in the US and those small communities in Honduras.

When he is not at the office, other hobbies include soccer and volunteering; He is currently a teacher assistant for English as Second Language (ESL) classes with North Metro Adult Basic Education programs.

ACM Minneapolis Questionnaire to Candidates’ Replies


Julie Westerlund : WATER CONNECTS US ALL

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Tuesday, November 14th, 2017 at 7:00 p.m. – Note: (This is a week later than usual, due to the election on the first Tuesday of November).  

Beth El Synagogue, 5224 W. 26th Street, St Louis Park, MN  55416

Julie Westerlund : WATER CONNECTS US ALL

Julie will discuss how we, as a society, value water, and she will challenge the audience to think about their personal relationship with (and responsibility to) water, and with/to each other. She will also discuss how land, water, ecosystems, and people are connected.

BIO: Julie specializes in water quality and Minnesota water policy. She currently coordinates the “One Watershed, One Plan”  Program at the Minnesota Board of Water and Soil Resources. Julie has also worked at the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources and the Minnehaha Creek Watershed District. During her career, she has spoken about “water connections” to dozens of professional groups, elected officials, lake associations and environmental groups.

Hear legendary birder Bob Janssen at the Friends of Roberts Bird Sanctuary Annual Meeting this Saturday, November 4

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The Friends of Roberts 5th annual meeting will be held at Bryant Square Park, 3101 Bryant Av South (Bryant Av S & West 31st St) in Minneapolis from 12:30 to 2 pm. Come hear Bob Janssen speak!

Bob Janssen, a legendary Minnesota birder who has worked tirelessly for decades to continue the legacy of Thomas Sadler Roberts, will speak at the 5th annual Friends of Roberts meeting. For many years Bob was editor of the quarterly journal of the Minnesota Ornithologists’ Union and is a past MOU president. Bob was a coordinator of the Minnesota Breeding Bird Survey for the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and consults for the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources and other agencies. He is author of several books on Minnesota birds. He spent eleven years surveying birds in Minnesota’s state parks and another five compiling the data for his newest book Birds of Minnesota State Parks.

The meeting starts at 12:30 p.m. and Bob Janssen’s presentation will start at 1 p.m. All are welcome and there is no charge. Refreshments will be served and several books will be raffled, including Bob Janssen’s newest book and a beautiful picture book that was just published, Roberts Bird Sanctuary Spring ABCs by Diane Erdmann.

For more information about the Annual Meeting, contact maryellingen@gmail.com and visit the Friends’ Facebook page by clicking here.

Christmas Bird Count – 2017

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Christmas Bird Count

 Audubon Chapter of Minneapolis  2017

December 16, 2017 7:30 AM-4:00 PM

The Christmas Bird Count for this year will take place on Saturday, December 16.  The group will meet at Springbrook Nature Center in Fridley, MN. At 7:30 AM.  Small groups of 3-4 will be formed and will cover specific map areas.  All groups will return at noon for a warm pot luck lunch and then head out for the afternoon.  Groups will return by 4 PM and tallies will be made of the total number of birds seen as well as the number of species. All are welcome. No experience is necessary.  People new to birding will be placed with experienced birders.  For more information contact Siah St. Clair at 763-234-6146 or email at stclairs@comcast.net.

Minneapolis Audubon Society Monthly Program, Dec 8, 1:00 pm: Wise Guys: Owls vs Ravens

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Friday, December 8, 2017 at 1 pm: Wise Guys: Owls vs Ravens. Minneapolis Audubon Society welcomes Melonie Shipman, traveling naturalist and former co-Executive Director, Audubon Center of the North Woods. Join us for food and enjoyment at the Bryant Square Neighborhood Center, 31st & Bryant Avenue S, just one block south of Lake Street, easily accessible via the #4 bus, which runs every 15 minutes! For more information call 763-533-8381 or click here.

BIRDING SOUTH TEXAS and THE RIO GRANDE VALLEY – Jim Egge

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Tuesday, December 5th, 2017 at 7:00 p.m.  

Beth El Synagogue,  5224 W. 26th Street, St Louis Park, MN  55416

Jim Egge, President, Audubon Chapter of Minneapolis:

BIRDING SOUTH TEXAS and THE RIO GRANDE VALLEY

Jim will trace a productive birding route, identifying the prime    birding spots for the birder who would like to see as many birds in one Texas week, as is possible. Jim is well-acquainted with south Texas and the Rio Grande Valley. For the last 3 years he has spent part of the winter in Texas, birding mostly in the Rio Grande Valley. The Rio Grande has the benefit of excellent habitat to    attract not only northern birds, but also a variety of Mexican      species. The region from coastal Padre Island has an abundance of wildlife reserves along the river valley, to the high country of Laredo and the Edwards Plateau. Unique species found nowhere else in America are endemic here. Some examples include the Aplomado Falcon, Audubon’s Oriole, Green Jay, Golden-cheeked Warbler, and White-collared Seedeater.

BIO: Jim is a retired high school chemistry and biology teacher. He has birded actively around the world since the late 70’s.

No January Program

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As usual we are taking a mid-winter break for our Programs. See the February post for its program.

February 6th – OWLS vs HAWKS by John Authur Anderson

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Tuesday, February 6th, 2018 at 7:00 p.m.  at Beth El Synagogue,  5224 W. 26th Street, St Louis Park, MN  55416

OWLS vs HAWKS      by John Authur Anderson

 

This presentation will compare and contrast Great Horned Owls and Coopers Hawks.  It will focus upon a range of characteristics and behaviors such as reproductive cycle, habitat, and eating habits. 

BIO: J Arthur Anderson – Is an avid nature photographer.  His work has been featured in various publications including the Star Tribune, Minnesota Birding, Capture Minnesota and North Dakota Outdoors.   In 2015, he was the “Overall Winner” for the Watchable Wildlife Photography Contest sponsored by the North Dakota Department of Fish and Game.    His work also appeared in the 2015 Audubon Photography Awards Top 100.    J Arthur is known best for his owl photography which spans the past 10 years.   He has had the opportunity to create a longitudinal record of the annual reproductive cycle of a handful of owl families located in the metro twin cities area.


2018 Field Trip to Tiffany Bottoms NWA: Saturday, May 12

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Audubon Chapter of Minneapolis is pleased to be sponsoring a field trip to Tiffany Bottoms National Wildlife Area in Wisconsin again this spring. The field trip includes a ride on a narrow-gauge train through the Bottoms with several stops to walk in the area and look for birds, both residents and spring migrants. This year’s field trip takes place on Saturday, May 12 from 1:00 pm to 5:00 pm. The train leaves at 1:00 pm so plan to arrive at least 15 minutes ahead of time. Tiffany Bottoms NWA is located about five miles south of Durand, WI about 90 miles from the Twin Cities and the driving time is approximately one hour and 45 minutes. Detailed directions are given below.

The train holds 70 – 75 passengers. Reservations are required. The trip has been popular in the past so we suggest you reserve your seat(s) early. The cost is $15 for Audubon members; $20 for non-members and $10 for chidren 12 and under.  Make out your check to Audubon Chapter of Minneapolis and mail it to Susan Tertell, 2841 40th Ave. S, Minneapolis MN 55406-1852. F or questions about reservations, please contact Susan at stertell@gmail.com (preferred) or 612.729.1566. Sorry, we are not able to give refunds for this trip after May 1, 2018.

What to bring:  The train is open air and goes rain or shine, so bring what you need to protect yourself from the elements. Suggestions: a hat, rain gear, appropriate footwear for walking in muddy conditions, sunscreen and insect repellent.  Also bring water and a snack and binoculars and field guides. You may want to bring a spotting scope if you have one.

Helpful links:

Chippewa Valley Motor Car Association (the organization that operates the train):

http://chippewavalleymotorcarassociation.ellawisc.com/

Tiffany Wildlife Area (WI DNR site):

http://dnr.wi.gov/topic/lands/WildlifeAreas/tiffany.html

Directions to Tiffany Bottoms from the Twin Cities:

Alternative 1: Head east on I -94. Merge onto US-10 E/US-61 S via EXIT 244. Continue to follow US-10 E until you reach Durand, WI. In Durand, turn right on East Main Street, and take the first left onto 3rd Avenue E., then take the 3rd right onto E Prospect St. Prospect St turns into Wisconsin Highway 25. Stay on WI-25 for 3 miles. The parking area for the train will be on the left side of the road and there will be someone directing traffic.

Alternative 2: Head east on I-94. Take the WI-25 exit, EXIT 41, toward Menomonie/Barron. Take WI-25 for 20 miles to the intersection with US-10. Turn left onto US-10/US-61. Continue to follow US-10 until you reach Durand, WI. In Durand, turn right on East Main Street, and take the first left onto 3rd Avenue E., then take the 3rd right onto E Prospect St. Prospect St. turns into Wisconsin Highway 25. Stay on WI-25 for 3 miles. The parking area for the train will be on the left side of the road and there will be someone directing traffic.

MARCH 6th Dr. Elena West – RED HEADED WOODPECKER RESEARCH

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Tuesday, March 6th, 2018 at 7:00 p.m.  

Beth El Synagogue,  5224 W. 26th Street, St Louis Park, MN  55416

MARCH 6th  RED HEADED WOODPECKER RESEARCH at Cedar Creek 2017-2018      by Dr. Elena West

Presentation on the Red Headed Woodpecker (RHWO) research accomplished and in progress at Cedar Creek Ecosystem Science Reserve in East Bethel, Mn. during 2017 and continuing in 2018.  Discussion will center on the 35 adult and nestling RHWOs that had transmitters attached during the summer of 2017.  Discussion will include what we learned and expect to learn as recaptures occur in 2018.  There will also be information about the citizen science projects that are in progress to help this research.  Program will include close up photographs of RHWOs and the research process.

 

BIO:  Dr. Elena West is an avian ecologist and conservation biologist with broad research and teaching interests in animal foraging and movement behavior, and quantitative wildlife population ecology. Elena completed her M.S. in Natural Resource Ecology and Management at the University of Michigan where she also received a graduate certificate in GIS and Spatial Analysis. Elena completed her PhD in Integrative Biology (formerly Zoology) at the University of Wisconsin-Madison where she examined the influence of anthropogenic food subsidies on the behavior and ecology of Steller’s jays in California state parks. Elena began work with the Red-headed Woodpecker Recovery Project (Audubon Chapter of Minneapolis) in 2016 and will begin a postdoctoral research position with Audubon, the University of Minnesota, and Dr. Henry Streby (University of Toledo) in 2018 on the annual cycle demography, habitat associations, and migration ecology of red-headed woodpeckers in Minnesota and Ohio.

Dr. Sheppard, Bird Collision Expert to Visit

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Dr. Christine Sheppard, one of the world’s foremost authorities on bird collisions, and the Bird Collisions Campaign Manager for American Bird Conservancy, will speak on –

Title: Why Birds Collide with Glass and How We Can Stop Them” Where: Beth El Synagogue in St. Louis Park

Date: April 18th

Time: 6:30 pm

The presentation will discuss how these methods can be used at the U. S. Bank Stadium.

Abstract: Birds are important parts of the biosphere, yet hundreds of millions are killed by colliding with glass in the US every year.  Birds collide with glass on structures of every size, from shacks to skyscrapers, in urban, suburban and rural area. Advances in technology are increasing use of glass curtain walls and other large glass features, increasing the rate of mortality.

Our current understanding of avian visual ecology clarifies reasons for collisions and provides a basis for creation of effective solutions.  Hazards to birds in the built environment are easy to recognize. Many currently available strategies for reducing bird mortality overlap with strategies deployed to control heat and light or promote security in new construction. Strategies for retrofitting existing structures are becoming more available. Legislation requiring bird-friendly design is becoming more common.

Biography:  Dr. Sheppard earned her B.A. and Ph.D. at Cornell.   Her first job was at the Bronx Zoo, where she started as an intern, and ended as Curator of Birds.   Zoos deal not only with issues of their buildings causing mortality of wild birds by collisions with glass exhibit walls, windows and handrails, they bring bird collision problems inside.  In 2007, Dr. Sheppard joined the board of the Bird-safe Glass Foundation as science advisor.  She conducts basic research into the effectiveness of different patterns in preventing bird collisions.  In 2009, she moved to the American Bird Conservancy as Collisions Program Manager and has recently published a revised, second edition of her Bird-friendly Building Design.  She has created AIA continuing education classes on Bird-friendly Design, helped create San Francisco’s Standards for Bird-safe Buildings and was part of the team that developed USGBC LEED Pilot Credit 55: Reducing Bird Mortality.

 

This is the second of three presentations to be given as part of the Stadium Retrofit Committee’s effort to convince the MSFA to retrofit the U. S. Bank Stadium to make it bird safe. A $5 donation will be requested at the door to defray costs.

The Stadium Retrofit Committee is a coalition of the Audubon Chapter of Minneapolis (ACM), Minnesota Citizens for the Protection of Migratory Birds (MCPMB) and the Friends of Roberts Bird Sanctuary (FRBS) as well as other bird loving concerned citizens, who are very disturbed by the mortality occurring at the U. S. Bank Stadium. Consequently the Retrofit Committee has embarked on an effort to gather information that will lead to viable recommendations to the Minnesota Sports Facilities Authority to retrofit the stadium to make it Bird Friendly. In order to collect pertinent data on Bird-Glass collisions, the Retrofit Committee has invited two national bird collision experts to visit the Twin Cities in March and April to provide information to a Retrofit Committee Panel that after compiling pertinent facts about Bird-Glass Collisions will make recommendations to the Minnesota Sports Facilities Authority (MSFA) on retrofitting the stadium to make it Bird Friendly.

Dr. Klem, Bird Collision Expert to Visit

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Dr. Daniel Klem Jr, respected authority on Bird-Window Collisions at Muhlenberg College, will speak on –

Title: “The Effects of Glass in Buildings on Bird Mortality”

Where: Springbrook Nature Center in Fridley

Date: March 21st

Time: 6:30 pm

 The presentation will address the U. S. Bank Stadium problem.

Abstract: In 1979, Dr. Daniel Klem, Jr, a young PhD student, finished his dissertation explaining the high mortality caused by sheet glass and how using a 2 x 4″ pattern on the glass could all but eliminate the problem. He is still trying to get the word out to the general population. Finally, companies are working on various methods to solve the problem, but nothing has changed, the 2 x 4″ rule still is the best solution.

Clear and reflective sheet glass in homes or entire walls of multistory commercial buildings, like the U. S. Bank Stadium, is a passive invisible killer of wild birds worldwide. Among the dead are the abundant as well as the rare, threatened, and endangered species. Investigators have gathered extensive evidence documenting sheet glass as a growing source of avian mortality, and a suspected contributor to overall bird population declines. Preventing these unintended fatalities will be addressed as well as preventive techniques, regulations addressing the installation of glass in buildings, and enforcement of existing legislation to protect wild birds as an aesthetic and environmentally valuable natural resource.

Biography:  Dr Klem, Sarkis Acopian Professor of Ornithology and Conservation Biology at Muhlenberg College Allentown, PA has over 20 publications and is a well-known bird-window collision expert. Dr. Klem received his Ph.D. from Southern Illinois University, Carbondale, IL. His dissertation published in 1979 entitled “Biology of collisions between birds and windows” is on the vanguard of the topic.  In his 1990 papers “Bird injuries, cause of death, and recuperation from collisions with windows” and “Collisions between birds and windows: mortality and prevention”, he calculated that between 100 million and 1 billion birds are killed, annually, in the United States alone, by flying into windows.

His research has influenced the design of buildings, for example the Niagara Falls State Park Observation Tower, on which he was a design consultant. He holds several US patents relating to windows design.

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This is the first of three presentations to be given as part of the Stadium Retrofit Committee’s effort to convince the MSFA to retrofit the U. S. Bank Stadium to make it bird safe. A $5 donation will be requested at the door to defray costs.

The Stadium Retrofit Committee is a coalition of the Audubon Chapter of Minneapolis (ACM), Minnesota Citizens for the Protection of Migratory Birds (MCPMB) and the Friends of Roberts Bird Sanctuary (FRBS) as well as other bird loving concerned citizens, who are very disturbed by the mortality occurring at the U. S. Bank Stadium. Consequently the Retrofit Committee has embarked on an effort to gather information that will lead to viable recommendations to the Minnesota Sports Facilities Authority to retrofit the stadium to make it Bird Friendly. In order to collect pertinent data on Bird-Glass collisions, the Retrofit Committee has invited two national bird collision experts to visit the Twin Cities in March and April to provide information to a Retrofit Committee Panel that after compiling pertinent facts about Bird-Glass Collisions will make recommendations to the Minnesota Sports Facilities Authority (MSFA) on retrofitting the stadium to make it Bird Friendly.

APRIL 3rd Keith Olstad – WRENS & FRIENDS

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APRIL 3rd   WRENS & FRIENDS  by Keith Olstad at Brookdale Library at 7:00 pm

Minnesota regularly hosts four wren species, but they are sometimes hard to distinguish by sight or sound, if one can find them at all.  Another three species show up here occasionally.  Beyond the wren family are several species quite similar in size and behavior.  Come learn more about Minnesota’s wrens and their friends.

BIO: Keith Olstad, a retired Lutheran pastor who has been birding and photographing birds most of his life, serves on the board of the Audubon Chapter of Minneapolis.  He is the convener of the research team for the ACM-sponsored Red-headed Woodpecker Recovery Project, and annually leads eco-tours to Nicaragua to explore migratory birds and economic development issues between our countries.

 

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