Highlights from the October 7th Board Meeting

  • Cory Davis is working to complete a list of the FAS Committees with an explanation of what they do and how FAS members can volunteer to help.
  • The people who organized the Birds of Prey Festival held a debriefing session and made a list of changes, improvements, and suggestions for next year. They identified a need for more volunteers to help, so plan to join this great event next September.
  • Kay Mitchell reported that our 10-year Owen Sowerwine lease with DNRC expires in February 2020, and we will be negotiating with DNRC to set the fee and to renew.
  • Jake Bramante revealed the new membership cards and stickers, and the small Pileated Woodpecker stickers, all of which make use of the new logo.

Volunteer Opportunities!

Video camera operator: No experience needed, although appreciated. Our Conservation Educator needs someone to run the camera for the creation of a new education tool. He will train how to use the camera. 10-15 total hours of work that could be stretched across several days depending on your availability. Contact Denny Olson: docwild.mt@gmail.com.

Facebook Co-Administrator: Are you regularly on Facebook? We need someone to work with our communications staff to keep our Facebook page updated and fresh. Contact Jake Bramante: jake@hike734.com.

Audubon Members Support Local Audubon Activities

Fall months always mean campaigns. Nope, not political campaigns, but annual community support campaigns. Some campaigns include nonprofit organizations all around Montana and some include strictly Flathead nonprofits. You look over the list and choose which organizations you want to receive your donation dollars. Flathead Audubon is listed with the Flathead United Way campaign and the Montana State Employees’ Charitable Giving Campaign (SECGC). Please direct your donation to Flathead Audubon Society, to help our local birds and nature education programs. It’s a good investment!  

Plastic Symposium

The State of Flathead’s Plastic, What’s Working? What’s Missing? What’s Next?, Saturday, November 2, 10 AM to 4 PM, FVCC Arts & Technology Building. A symposium on how and what we are doing to Reduce, Reuse, and Recycle in the Flathead. Includes morning plenary sessions, afternoon workshops, poster sessions, and a group brainstorming session. For symposium schedule, a list of speakers and workshop leaders, and other information, see www.climatesmartglaciercountry.org.

OSNA Work Day 2019

The OSNA Work Day was originally scheduled for 28 September but  the National Weather Service advised people to stay out of the woods that day because of high winds. On the rescheduled date of 5 October, 10 FAS members showed up. We spent the morning pulling Ox-Eye Daisy from a fairly large patch. This resulted in about a dozen bags of noxious weeds removed from the natural area. This makes a very small dent in the weed control so be sure to look forward to future OSNA work days.

Another New Species Spotted at OSNA

As birds migrate through our area, places like Owen Sowerwine provide important stopover habitat. Fall migration combined with excellent habitat brings some wonderful surprises. One such surprise showed up recently at OSNA — a small flock of White-throated Sparrows! This adds to the other seven sparrows that have been spotted there this year, and brings the number of species on the OSNA Bird List to 154. The latest version of this list is on the Owen Sowerwine Natural Area page, and look under “About OSNA”. 

Don’t Forget to Use Amazon Smile

Amazon Smile donates to your selected charity for every purchase.  Here’s the URL for the Amazon Smile sign-in page: https://smile.amazon.com. You use the same email and password as regular Amazon. Once you sign in, click the 3 horizontal lines in the upper left and scroll all the way to the bottom where it says “Your Amazon Smile.” That is where you choose the charity you want to have Amazon donate to. If you bookmark the sign-in page, you can always go right to Smile. 

Good news for Sage Grouse

By Joe Batts, Treasurer

A federal district (Idaho) judge blocked the Trump administration plans for expanding drilling, mining, and livestock grazing in seven western states: Idaho, Wyoming, Utah, Colorado, Nevada, California and Oregon. Montana Audubon is party to a similar lawsuit joined by Wyoming, Utah, Colorado and Nevada and headed up by National Audubon. This preliminary injunction stated that the administration provided no analysis or justification for reducing the protections for the Sage Grouse.  More to come.

Montana Native Plant Society, Flathead Chapter Meeting

Thursday, November 21, 7:00 PM 

Montana Native Plant Society- Flathead Chapter meeting, featuring a program by Teagan Hayes as she explores Arctic Wild Life: Flora and Fauna of Iceland and Greenland. Hayes will talk about plants and animals adapted to survive harsh arctic realities, as well some of the fascinating human history of these sparsely populated lands. She is a former botanist with the MPG Ranch, and is now in her final year of grad school in the Wildlife Program at UM. We will meet at the United Way Main Conference Room at old Gateway Mall, 1203 Highway 2 West, Kalispell. Use West entrance near United Way Conference room sign.