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On September 26-27, Audubon staff joined leaders from across the Delaware River Watershed gathered at Wind Creek in Bethlehem, PA for the Coalition for the Delaware River Watershed's 12th Annual Delaware River Watershed Forum. During the two-day meeting, participants discussed ways to protect watershed habitat and ensure clean drinking water, along with other priorities.
Attendees came from across the Mid-Atlantic region with diverse backgrounds in nonprofits, government, and the private sector. Discussion topics included community development, water management, and there were an array of different field trips.
Through the informative sessions, attendees learned more about the numerous conservation and habitat restoration projects happening throughout the watershed. Representatives from Pennsylvania’s executive branch also provided insight into how their departments advance environmental protection and conservation.
The forum also highlighted the importance of community building, the diverse nature of infrastructure projects built for climate resiliency, and the importance of clean water for local economies, including local breweries. Leaders also emphasized the need for people working in conservation to link the benefits of conservation for people and local economies.
The forum provided Audubon staff with information and tools to better connect the dots of the diverse needs in the watershed and how legislation and advocacy can help us advance our work.
Click here to learn more about our conservation efforts in the Delaware River Watershed.
Audubon Mid-Atlantic spoke recently with Calvin Norman, who has completed the Audubon Forester Training and Endorsement Program. Calvin works with NexGen Forestry, LLC, and covers forested area in central Pennsylvania. His work encompasses 33 counties within the state, although he travels occasionally to other regions of Pennsylvania.
What lead you to become interested in forestry?
My interest in the field started in college, where I dual-majored in forestry. I’ve always loved working with trees, and many of our terrestrial animals rely on forested space.
Where did your interest in bird-friendly forestry come from, and why is it important?
Birds are charismatic, which often results in people developing close associations with birds and bird watching. Many forest-dwelling birds require dense and brushy habitat, and that this habitat can be created and maintained by foresters. This gives us an achievable goal from a forestry perspective – this work feels and looks good, and encourages people to get out into nature.
How did you benefit from the endorsement process? Any key takeaways about wildlife management?
The forester endorsement training helped me to meet people’s objectives with healthy forestry, and helped me to determine what will “click” for private landowners.
How did the training influence your work?
My work requires data to be collected on forest-dwelling birds, and the training process was straightforward and aligned with that work. I recommend the program for potentially interested foresters - the included webinars are very informative, and the process and knowledge gained during the training is very rewarding!”
Thinking about becoming involved with the Audubon Forester Training and Endorsement Program? Read more about the program on our website and contact our Forest Program Associate, Joshua Rittenhouse (joshua.rittenhouse@audubon.org), to get started today!
Every year during the spring and fall months, tens of millions of birds pass through cities such as Philadelphia. While lights can throw birds off their migration paths, bird fatalities are more directly caused by the amount of energy the birds waste flying around and calling out in confusion. The exhaustion can then leave them vulnerable to other urban threats.
Simply turning your lights off from midnight until 6am during the spring migration from April 1 through May 31, and during the fall migration from August 15 through November 15 can potentially reduce bird collision death by up to 80%. For more information about Lights Out in the Philadelphia area, check out this fact sheet from Bird Safe Philly. You can also visit this page on Audubon’s website to learn more about nationwide Lights Out efforts.
The Bird Migration Explorer is a tool developed by the National Audubon Society, which tracks the heroic annual journeys made by over 450 bird species nationwide. Click below to learn more about our local migratory species, along with their locations and the conservation challenges they face.
The National Audubon Society recently received a $2 million dollar grant from the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Forest Service to support the expansion of the Bird-Friendly Maple program. The investment is part of $145 million in Inflation Reduction Act funding to connect landowners to emerging climate markets. Audubon’s Bird-Friendly Maple program is a market-based approach that incentivizes maple producers to manage their sugarbushes (forests that are used to produce maple syrup) in ways that provide forest bird habitat and increase forest sustanability through unique product labeling and marketing opportunities. Biologically and structurally diverse sugarbushes offer great places for birds to forage, find cover, and raise their young. They are also likely to have better long-term sap production, fewer forest health problems, and are better able to adapt to the stresses of climate change.
Pennsylvania is the 6th largest maple-producing state in the country. This grant enables Audubon’s Forest Program in the Mid-Atlantic to roll out Bird-friendly Maple for maple producers in our region to provide technical and habitat management expertise. Through these market-based incentives, Audubon can help maple syrup producers not only provide important habitat for declining forest birds but also provide the public with bird-friendly syrup! You can read more about the grant and the maple program here.
When shopping for maple syrup, be sure to look for the maple syrup containers with the label indicating the syrup was produced in a Bird-Friendly forest habitat. Maple sugarbushes can be good for birds, but forests that are managed with birds in mind are even better!
Help secure the future for birds at risk from climate change, habitat loss and other threats. Your support will power our science, education, advocacy and on-the-ground conservation efforts.
Donating monthly is flexible, easy and convenient and makes you a champion birds can count on, no matter the season.
