From ggabanski at comcast.net Fri Nov 7 20:58:37 2008 From: ggabanski at comcast.net (Glenn Gabanski) Date: Fri Nov 7 20:59:06 2008 Subject: [BCNnet] Flying Wild Message-ID: Flying Wild BCN would like to pass along information about an exciting opportunity to work with the Illinois Audubon Society to help educators complete the Flying Wild curriculum in local middle schools. Flying Wild is a thorough science curriculum that focuses on the study of birds, with the goals of teaching students the importance of bird conservation and stewardship. Created by the Council for Environmental Education, Flying Wild has familiar national sponsors: American Birding Association, American Zoo and Aquarium Association, Cornell Lab of Ornithology, National Wildlife Federation, Partners in Flight, Smithsonian Migratory Bird Center, and US Fish and Wildlife Service. Local sponsors include the Illinois Audubon Society, Lincoln Park Zoo, and the Environmental Education Association of Illinois. Birders could assist local teachers by facilitating classroom or outdoor Flying Wild Activities. They could teach students how to photograph birds, use binoculars and scopes, build nest boxes, conduct bird counts, help students complete habitat projects, and coordinate an International Migratory Bird Day festival. Illinois Audubon Society's Executive Director, Tom Clay, said at a recent planning meeting "We birders can share our passion for birds with students!" How cool is that, to pass on our enthusiasm and knowledge to a receptive group of young people! The next step to bringing Flying Wild to Illinois schools is to train facilitators, which can include volunteers like us, educators, naturalists, and anyone committed to environmental education. Interested birders are asked to attend a facilitator/educator workshop. (See schedule below.) For more information please go to www.illinoisaudubon.org and click on the Flying Wild icon. LD-010509 Date: January 15, 2009 Time: 9am to 3pm Sponsored by: Vermilion County Conservation District Location: Kennekuk County Park Cost: $15 Facilitator: Lara Darling RS-022709 Date: February 27, 2009 Time: 8am to 2:45pm (Optional Bird Walk 7am-8am Sponsored by: Forest Preserve District of DuPage County Location: Danada House & Atrium, 3S501 Naperville Rd, Wheaton Cost: $25 (before 11/15/08 - $30 after) includes breakfast/lunch Facilitator: Ron Skleney For information please contact Linda Perry 630.850.8112 JP-032609 Date: March 26, 2009 Time: 8am to Noon Sponsored by: Forest Preserve District of Will County Location: Four Rivers Environmental Education Center, Channahon Cost: $15 Facilitator: Jessica Prince -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://screamer.ece.iit.edu/pipermail/bcnnet/attachments/20081107/fce04e85/attachment.html From cmarshbird at prodigy.net Wed Nov 19 16:46:15 2008 From: cmarshbird at prodigy.net (Carolyn A. Marsh) Date: Wed Nov 19 16:46:08 2008 Subject: [BCNnet] 2 wind turbines in environmentally sensitive areas Message-ID: <003a01c94a98$a257fe90$e5174a0c@CLOVER> November 19, 2008 Dear Friend: Without any state policy on wind turbines, the Indiana Office of Energy & Defense Development awarded $24,250 to the Hammond Port Authority as part of an $110,000 project to install two 115-foot wind turbines at Wolf Lake in Hammond. No public input, nothing. All the Hammond Port Authority did was apply for the grant on September 19, 2008 and it was awarded on October 9, 2008! If the state gets away with this, then no other wildlife area is sacred. While wind turbines are an excellent source of alternative energy, other states are first developing criteria for wind turbines that include the best placement for them. Wisconsin, a Great Lakes state, with public involvement, is drawing up guidelines for wind turbines that recognize and avoid environmentally sensitive wildlife areas such as migratory bird flyways. Wolf Lake is part of the tri-lake State Line/Calumet Region Important Bird Area, a National Audubon Society program. The area was also the site of a Field Museum BioBlitz in August 2002. The BioBlitz included Eggers Woods Forest Preserve and Powderhorn Lake Forest Preserve that neighbor Wolf Lake on the west side in Illinois. It connects to the Lake Calumet Audubon Important Bird Area. These green ways are listed in various bird guide books. This is the official description: State Line/Calumet Region (Lake County, IN): Located in the far northwestern corner of Indiana and bordered to the immediate north by Lake Michigan's shoreline, the State Line/Calumet Region Important Bird Area represents one of the most significant ornithological phenomena and bird conservation issues in the state. This region is regarded as one of the most important flyways for migratory songbirds in the United States, with the shores and deep waters of Lake Michigan acting as a funnel during spring and fall, thereby generating intense concentrations of migrants within the small woodlots and other greenspace remaining in the highly urbanized and industrialized Calumet area. Three sites are particularly noteworthy within this IBA - the Hammond Lakefront Park and Bird Sanctuary, George Lake, and Wolf Lake/Forsythe Park. A wind turbine will be installed in two different areas of parkland next to Wolf Lake in a working class urban area. Wolf Lake is bi-state with half of the lake in Chicago, Illinois, the William W. Powers Fish & Wildlife Area. The Hammond half of the lake is now managed by the Hammond Port Authority. They took control of the Wolf Lake from the Hammond Parks Department without any public meetings. The Chicago half is managed by the Illinois Department of Natural Resources. The wind turbines will be built at Wolf Lake so they can be seen by thousands of Indiana Toll Road riders, as the toll road bisects the lake. More green washing since the turbines will supply only 10-kilowatts to power a seldom-opened shelter at Forsythe Park and to light a sanitary district pumping station, which drains runoff into Wolf Lake. Any surplus energy from the wind turbines will be sold to the NIPSCO grid. NIPSCO's parent company is a corporate council member of Chicago Wilderness, an organization that was established to protect biodiversity in the Great Lakes region. NIPSCO should know better than to approve wind turbines at Wolf Lake when there are many other places they could be installed without causing confrontations with bird lovers. The Hammond Port Authority is notorious for its global-warming developments such as the Las Vegas style casino. The casino was once a riverboat but now is a multi-layered big box built on top of four barges inside the Hammond Marina. Shoreline parking garages block the sky, huge windows reflect the water and stadium lights pollute the night sky. At the south basin of George Lake, once a prime wildlife area, is a white elephant golf course where a new massive environmentally unfriendly banquet hall is being built despite the golf course operating in the red. It's not clear if the wind turbines are in addition to the Statue of Liberty the Port Authority is studying for Wolf Lake. It appears the Statue of Liberty and the wind turbine will be in the same section of the park across from the "environmental center" at the intersection of Sheffield and Calumet Avenues. Environmental organizations need to address this issue now before wind turbines line up the lakefront. Carolyn Marsh Bird conservationist and founder of the Hammond Bird Sanctuary -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://screamer.ece.iit.edu/pipermail/bcnnet/attachments/20081119/d3ec0d33/attachment-0001.html