The full board of directors met at the home of Margaret Huffman for our annual planning meeting.  In attendance were: Chuck Almdale, Lillian Johnson Almdale, Chuck Bragg, Adrian Douglas, Jean Garrett, Margaret Huffman, Chris Lord, Lu Plauzoles, Mary Prismon, Ellen Vahan (president).

The meeting was called to order at 10:15 am and adjourned at 2:35 pm, with a short break for lunch.  Dessert was served after the meeting.

After Ellen welcomed the board and thanked Margaret for her hospitality, she read the mission statement of both NAS and SMBAS:
“The National Audubon Society’s Mission is to conserve and restore natural ecosystems, focusing on birds and wildlife for the benefit of humanity and the earth’s biological diversity. “

Our chapter’s particular mission is to be a center for wildlife education, habitat protection, and conservation issues that involve birds.
There was no discussion.

She also announced that David Yarnold is the new president of NAS, replacing John Flicker.

Budget for 2010/2011 fiscal year – Lillian
Income – Most of our income comes from the annual appeal.  Other income sources are our dues share from NAS (this is a fixed amount), our Beginning Birding Class, and other donations (usually in memoriam).

Beginning Birding Class will again be offered again in Feb, 2011.

Year-end Appeal – We discussed mailing the year-end appeal in September along with a copy of the full-year calendar, rather than waiting until the end of November.  Some concern was expressed about recipients putting aside the letter until year-end and then forgetting to send in a donation.  In an effort to keep chapter members informed of activities and save mailing costs, the board decided to send the letter in September.  Lillian and Ellen will head this up.

Expenses – All chapter expenses go  to supporting chapter goals for education, protection and conservation issues.

Grants to Other Organizations – Every year, the board votes on charitable organizations to support with monetary grants.  This year’s list includes:  American Bird Conservancy, Ballona Renaissance, Ballona Wetlands Audubon Education Program, Birders’ Exchange, California State Parks Foundation, Endangered Habitats League, Friends of Big Morongo, and Student Conservation Association.  (The following blog post has details about and web-links to these organizations).

UCLA Scholarships for PhD Research – We increased the number of scholarships from two to three.  We also decided to offer several small grants to the public.   Lillian will follow up on both of these items.

Evening Program Speaker Budget – Adrian requested that we increase the budget to allow additional compensation for speakers coming from outside the area.  Board approved.

Field Trips – Chuck A. led a discussion about which field trips the chapter will offer and who the trip leaders will be. (The entire calendar will be sent with the year end appeal and posted on the website: http://www.smbas.org)

Coastal Cleanup Saturday, Sept. 25 9am to noon – Ellen reminded the board that  SMBAS will again be heading up the annual cleanup efforts at Malibu Lagoon.  She also noted that this year recyclables will not be segregated.

Conservation – Lu and Mary

Snowy Plovers are back on So Cal Beaches – Lu informed us that  Tom Ryan hopes to get funding to study the behavior of the plovers. This would involve 2-hour shifts recording all plover activity.

Butterbredt Spring – Mary announced that Keith Axelson and Reed Tollefson sent us a letter about a pending solar project in the area.  She will try to get more details.  She also offered a big thank you to the Friends of Jawbone Canyon and the Student Conservation Association for installing “gates” across the illegal motorcycle trails around Butterbredt Spring.

Membership – Chuck B.

Membership is slightly under 800; NAS reports almost 100 more due to a difference in timing of expired memberships.

Chapter-only Membership – Chuck B will check to see how many Chapter-only members have expired and not renewed.  He has not been sending out renewal notices, but will do so after he reviews the membership data.  A chapter-only membership is $25.

Newsletter, Website and Blog – Chuck A and Chuck B

Newsletter – Chuck B is currently sending out 100 2-page imprints every other month, 5 times per year; this has cut our publication costs significantly.

Blog – Chuck A will link field trip announcements to prior year field trip reports so interested parties can get a better idea about which birds we may see on the field trip.

Articles Needed – Chuck B & Chuck A both request more articles posted to the blog on conservation and other “interesting” articles on “any” topic (i.e. birds, bird names, conservation in general, gardens for birds etc.

Programs – Adrian

Program Schedule – Adrian reported that all programs for the year are scheduled (to be included on the mailed calendar).  Speakers are: Alan Polack, Neil Losin, Kurt Leucshner, Allen Kotin, Olga Clarke, Chuck & Lillian Almdale, and Ted Cheeseman.  Adrian will follow up with the Santa Monica Mirror about announcing our meetings.  The Mirror requires a 2 month lead time.

Program Announcements – Chuck A will post  announcements on our Blog as well as on the Calbird and LA County Bird chat lines.

Program Location – Lu has again secured the Ken Edwards Center for Oct/Nov/Dec.  The Feb/March 2011 applications are due in Sept.

Meeting Time – will continue to be at 7:30 pm, 1^st Tuesday of the month at KEC with dinner for the speaker before.

Native Plant Presentations – Margaret and Ellen will again do some plant presentations at the start of the evening program.
November:  When to Plant
December:  Toyon

Hospitality – Chris Lord requested that Lillian order more refreshment cups.

Native Plants – Margaret

Fall Native Plant Sale – The Calif. Native Plant Society plant sale is Oct 2/3 at the Sepulveda Garden Center.

New Business – Ellen

Younger Members – How do we get younger members and new members to join the board?  This issue was briefly discussed and tabled until a later date.

Board Contact Information – Adrian suggested that the imprint should include contact information on page 2.

Future Board Meeting Dates – 2010: 9/14, 11/9.  2011:  1/11/, 3/15, 5/17

Next Annual Planning Meeting –Summer 2011
[Lillian Johnson}

SMBAS had its annual planning meeting at the end of July. One of our duties is deciding which organizations we will support with monetary grants in the coming fiscal year. We have investigated all of the organizations listed below and believe that our donations are well invested. We encourage all our members to consider them when making their own environmentally-related charitable donations.

1. American Bird Conservancy
ABC is a “four-star exceptional” charity whose mission is to conservancy wild birds and their habitats throughout the Americas. Among their many projects are: acquiring land important to endangered/threatened species in many countries; securing easements in Colombia for wintering Cerulean Warblers; create plant nurseries and plant trees throughout the Americas; reduce seabird mortality from West Coast fisheries; create nesting habitat for owls in the Pacific Northwest; reduce feral cat populations and persuade cat owners to keep their cats indoors; protect Spotted Owl and Marbled Murrelet habitat; lobby for birds & habitat in Washington, DC; acquire and convert coffee/cacao plantations for revenue for local sanctuaries; many dozens more. SMBAS has been a member of ABC for 6 years.
Weblink: http://www.abcbirds.org/

2. Ballona Creek Renaissance
BCR is a small local group whose mission is “to improve Ballona Creek and the community’s use of in terms of water quality, ecosystem, recreation, arts, attractiveness and amenities.” They are an enthusiastic, dedicated and underfunded group who need  help and support from the Westside environmental community. We will give financial support to their community matching projects.  Weblink: http://www.ballonacreek.org/index.shtml

3. Ballona Wetlands Audubon Education Program
SMBAS has helped fund the BWAEP for over two decades, and many members of our chapter have dedicated a great deal of time to them.  Eight months a year, twice a week, they bring groups of 60 schoolchildren – mostly 5th graders – onto the wetlands and give them hands-on experience with reptiles, invertebrates, habitat restoration, plant and bird identification.  Due to widespread budget cutbacks, many schools cannot afford to hire a bus to bring the children to the wetlands, so BWAEP has begun offering “bus scholarships”.  BWAEP expenses are always minimal and all of the labor is done by volunteers.  Former SMBAS founder and long-term member Abigail King volunteered with them for many years, and we are funding some bus scholarships in her name.
Weblink: http://losangelesaudubon.org/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=495&Itemid=203

4. Birder’s Exchange
Birder’s Exchange, directed by the American Birding Association, is dedicated towards getting birding equipment to poor, birding-destination nations in the Americas. Field guides, binoculars and telescopes, both new and used, are supplied free of charge to individuals and groups in order to increase their appreciation of and involvement in their local wildlife. For example, they recently distributed over 11,000 copies of the Spanish translation of John Kricher’s A Neotropical Companion throughout the Spanish-speaking Americas. Such efforts have created many new birders throughout the Americas. Some volunteer, others work in ecotourism or lead field trips; others go on to pursue education in ornithology and other fields of science. This is a low cost, high-volunteer and high-return organization, directly focused on the development of birding and birders where it is needed most.
Weblink: http://www.aba.org/bex/

5. California State Parks Foundation
As birders and SMBAS members, we use the state parks all the time: for example, our monthly Malibu Lagoon birdwalk at held at Malibu Lagoon State Park. CSPF is over 40 years old, and is the only statewide independent nonprofit organization dedicated to protecting, enhancing and advocating for California’s state parks. Since 1969, they have raised more than $150 million to benefit state parks. They are committed to improving the quality of life for all Californians by expanding access to the natural beauty, rich culture and history, and recreational and educational opportunities offered by California’s 278 state parks ­ the largest state park system in the United States. Many parks have been closed down due to budget cutbacks and they need as much help as they can get. CSPF also supports the current Auto License Plate Initiative.
Weblink: http://www.calparks.org/

6. Endangered Habitats League
EHL started over a decade ago primarily to preserve habitat for the threatened California Gnatcatcher which lives only in the sort of brushy chaparral which developers love to clear for housing developments, and SMBAS has supported it since its inception. Since then, they have worked to protect habitat throughout the general SoCal area. They are a small, shoestring operation which deserves our continued support.
Weblink: http://www.ehleague.org/

7. Friends of Big Morongo
Anyone who has birded at Big Morongo Nature Preserve in the springtime knows its tremendous importance as a high-desert oasis. Millions of migrating birds come up the west Mexican Coast and, after lingering at the Salton Sea, must run the gantlet of the fierce winds at the San Gorgonio Pass. BMNP provides an oasis, sanctuary, resting place and feeding grounds for these migrants before they continue through California and as far north as Alaska and the Canadian Arctic. FBM is a small volunteer organization which maintains the preserve and keeps it open for anyone to visit any time of year, and we are happy to support it.
Weblink: http://www.bigmorongo.org/

8. Student Conservation Association
SMBAS began supporting the SCA 5 years ago when we first learned of it. Since then we have sponsored the work of students in both the Santa Monica Mountains and the Tehachapi mountains around Butterbredt Spring. Some of our members have worked with them clearing trails, installing and repairing signs and fences and blocking access of ORV’s from off-limits, protected areas. We get letters from the students thanking us for our sponsorship and reporting on their activities. SCA provides hands-on conservation service opportunities to high-school and college-aged people across the nation and provides opportunities to donors to sponsor students in their local areas. Since 1957, over 50,000 young people have provided over 1/2 billion dollars worth of labor. This year, about 4,000 interns and volunteers will provide over 2 million hours of conservation service.  More importantly, 70% of SCA alumni remain active in conservation in their careers or communities. This is a low cost, highly-effective way of introducing young people to our beautiful wildlands and getting some much-needed work done at the same time.
Weblink: http://www.thesca.org/

9. Butterbredt Spring
Our support of the spring is in a class by itself. For over 30 years, SMBAS – spearheaded by Keith Axelson – has championed the spring in all ways possible: mending fences and signage, re-installation of a cattle trough, perpetual negotiating with the landowners and BLM, getting SCA (see above) workers to the area, attending local Governmental Agency meetings, getting it listed as an Important Bird Area, running the Christmas Count, semi-annual field trip campouts, and on and on. Our involvement will continue.
Link to 2008 Christmas Count pictures: http://www.natureali.org/CBCs/BUTcbc109.htm
Link to history of Frederick Butterbredt & Sageland: http://www.dustyway.com/2007/09/pioneer-frederick-butterbredt.html
[Lillian Johnson]