Lori Danielson, president of Eastside Audubon Society.
President’s Letter: Grateful for Volunteers
By Lori Danielson
January is traditionally the month in which Eastside Audubon holds a volunteer appreciation dinner to honor our many volunteers. Since we cannot come together for a meal and ceremony this year, due to the pandemic, I wanted to express my appreciation here. The chapter is so fortunate to have dedicated board members, committee members, bird survey participants, trip leaders, environmental advocates, writers, educators, newsletter editors, habitat restoration people, administration support volunteers and more. Many volunteers have worked despite the difficult circumstances that 2020 brought. When we moved to online interaction through Zoom, additional people stepped up to support online program nights and classes. I want to thank all of you who perform the chapter’s work. Without you, Eastside Audubon wouldn’t be able to protect the places that birds need, provide community education, nor celebrate the beauty and meaning that birds bring us. I sincerely hope that next January we’ll be able to come together in person again to celebrate the people who carry out the work of Eastside Audubon. In the meantime, a heartfelt thanks to each of you.
One of our long-time dedicated volunteers is being recognized this month as the chapter’s Environmentalist of the Year. Congratulations to Jill Keeney! She is a steadfast, hard-working volunteer whose achievements are described in another article in this Corvid Crier issue. Thank you for your work for the chapter and the environment, Jill!
Early last month Audubon Washington held the annual legislative Advocacy Day, in which Audubon members meet with their state representatives to emphasize the importance of environmental issues up for legislative action. Usually Advocacy Day involves a trip to Olympia in January while the legislature is in session. But due to the pandemic, Audubon volunteers and staff met virtually in December with state Senate and House members before the session started. Eastside Audubon took part in the online meetings, advocating for maintaining the Washington Dept. of Fish and Wildlife’s budget, passing clean fuel standards in the state to fight climate change, and amending the Growth Management Act to include considerations for social justice and climate change. If you’d like to support these issues in the 2021 legislative session, I encourage you to read over the issue descriptions at https://wa.audubon.org/conservation/legislative-session-2020 and sign up for Audubon Washington’s action alerts. Your voice is needed and is one of the most powerful tools for combating climate change and protecting bird habitat.
Happy New Year! I’m hoping that 2021 is a much better year than the last!