By Jess Garby
It’s hard to believe I began this job as Flathead Audubon Society (FAS) Education Coordinator a full year ago, in December 2024. Every FAS member, FAS board member, and even folks from National Audubon have made me feel so at home in this community. Over the past year, I’ve visited 16 schools in Flathead County and one in Lake County, working with K-12 students and reaching more than 1,500 learners through classroom programs and field trips. It has been such a joy to see how naturally students connect with birds. I’ve learned that most students have a connection to birds before FAS visits their classrooms, whether they are hunters, their grandparents have bird feeders, or they are fascinated by the birds they see on the
bus ride to school.
If you have a young nature enthusiast in your life, we have a fun winter opportunity coming up this month! We
are partnering with Montana Fish, Wildlife & Parks (FWP) and the Flathead Lake Biological Station from December through March to offer take-home Junior Ranger Kits. These kits will be available for pickup at the Polson Library, Columbia Falls Library, Wayfarers State Park, and the FWP office in Kalispell. The kit, titled “Diver or Dabbler?” will be ready for pickup on December 5 at all locations.
On a personal note, I am excited to be participating in Project FeederWatch, a Cornell Lab of Ornithology initiative, for the first time! Project FeederWatch is a community-driven effort that runs from November through April, collecting data on wintering birds. It’s a simple and exciting way to contribute valuable information on bird trends. You simply count the number of species that visit your feeder on a periodic basis. I have submitted two counts so far, with only six species per count. I am hoping for more frequent and exciting results to report as the snow falls.
I’ve also been focusing my energy on two exciting National Audubon initiatives. First, Flathead Audubon was invited to join the Indigenous Partnerships Support Community of Practice, a group of chapters from across the country learning about meaningful and collaborative partnerships with local tribes. National Audubon has hired
an external consultant to learn how to engage respectfully and build trust working across cultural lines. We are eager to learn how we can better support and promote the tribes’ existing conservation programs.
Lastly, I am working diligently on the Audubon in Action Grant. Each year, National Audubon Society provides
two types of grants to Audubon chapter projects that contribute to Flight Plan, Audubon’s 2023-2028 strategic
plan. Flight Plan’s community-building milestone aims to drive widespread public action by expanding the number of people who care about, and take action for, birds. I am excited to share more about the project we are working on in the near future.