The Wisconsin Bird Conservation Initiative: "A cooperative partnership to deliver the full spectrum of bird conservation emphasizing voluntary stewardship."

The WBCI (Wisconsin Bird Conservation Initiative) e-News is a periodic e-newsletter to quickly share that is happening in bird conservation across Wisconsin (and occasionally beyond).

We'd like to welcome the most recent WBCI endorsers which brings our number of partners to 143: Kumlien Bird Club, North Lakeland Discovery Center, About Place Consulting, Coulee Region Audubon Society, and Navarino Nature Center.

Quote: "The wind whipping through the northern spruce-fir forest sounds like pounding surf, even as the thermometer routinely reads -20 C--and sometimes -30 C.
....How do kinglets, who are out there day and night and who are no bigger than the end of my thumb, maintain their body temperature near 43 to 44 C? They maintain a body temperature some 3 C higher than that of most birds. For added perspective, that's 6 to 7 C higher than that of a healthy human--a temperature at which most of us would die of heat stroke.
....even after exploring in the woods on hundreds of cold days, I'm still awestruck that anything as small and as dependent on keeping warm can survive." --Berndt Heinrich, Winter World: The Ingenuity of Animal Survival.

I.    WBCI/WSO Symposium - Fri & Sat, Feb 4-5, 2005 - Wisconsin Rapids
II.    Outreach Committee Unveils Communication Plan
III. WBCI Committee Meetings Announced
        Funding, Thurs, Jan 6, 9 a.m.-Noon, GEF 2 (DNR) - Madison
        Issues, Tues, Jan 11, 9:30-Noon, Urban Ecology Center - Milwaukee
        Urban/Suburban, Tues, Jan 11, 12:30- Urban Ecology Center - Milwaukee
        Habitat Assessment & Management, Thurs, Jan 13, 10 a.m.-Noon, DNR (Darwin Rd)-Madison
        Coordinating Council, Thurs, Jan 13, 1-4 p.m., DNR (Darwin Rd)-Madison
        IBA Advisory, Fri, Jan 21, 1-4 p.m., DNR Research - Monona
        Outreach, Wed, Jan 9, 10 a.m. - 1 p.m., DNR Research - Monona
IV.   Other Meetings and Events Announced
           Comprehensive Wildlife Conservation Plan - 6 Regional Briefings across the state - January 10-18.
             WI Wetlands Assn 10th Annual Science Forum (Great Lakes Coastal Wetlands) - Wed-Thurs, January 26-27- Green Bay.
            Birds & Buildings: Creating a Safer Environment. Friday, March 11, 2005, Chicago, IL.
V.    Quad 30 Presentations
VI.   U.S. FWS Coastal Program Grant
VII.   North Star Science & Technology Transmitter Grant Program

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I. WBCI/WSO Symposium - Fri & Sat, Feb 4-5, 2005 - Wisconsin Rapids

Don't forget to register for the upcoming WBCI/WSO symposium, Neotropical Migrants: Insuring Their Return, which will be Friday and Saturday, February 4-5, 2005 at the Hotel Mead and Conference Center, Wisconsin Rapids. Registration materials with complete symposium information can be found on the WBCI website. Go to http://www.wisconsinbirds.org/events.htm and click on the WSO/WBCI Symposium link. Adobe Acrobat Reader is needed to open the file. You can also contact Christine Reel, dcreel@execpc.com or 262/547-6128, for a copy of the registration materials.

Mail-in registrations must be received by January 25. Note that registration fees increase January 8, so be sure to send your registration form so it is received by that date for the lowest fees. Walk-ins will be welcome at the event, but the number of meal tickets available on-site will be extremely limited; we recommend that you sign up and pay for meals before the event to be sure you won’t be disappointed.

The purpose of the Plan is to help guide the outreach efforts of WBCI committees and endorsers. It is intended for use in planning bird conservation related events such as workshops, conferences, and festivals. Included in the Plan are a 10-step guide to creating a public information plan, key messages to consider, potential audiences, media contacts, and a sample press release.

All WBCI meetings are open to everyone. Please attend if possible and pass along word to anyone who may be interested in attending or joining any WBCI committee. Contact committee chairs for more information and agendas.

Funding Committee - Andy Paulios, Chair (andy.paulios@dnr.state.wi.us)
    Thurs, Jan 6, 9 a.m.-Noon, GEF 2 (DNR) 6th floor Wildlife Conf Rm - Madison
Issues Committee - Bill Mueller, Chair (iltlawas@earthlink.net)
        Tues, Jan 11, 9:30 a.m.-Noon, Urban Ecology Center, in Riverside Park, at 1500 E. Park Place - Milwaukee Work will continue on the development of white papers.
Urban/Suburban Subcommittee - Ricky Lien, Chair (ricky.lien@dnr.state.wi.us)
       Tues, Jan 11, 12:30- Urban Ecology Center - Milwaukee
Habitat Assessment & Management Committee - Gary Zimmer, Chair
        (rgszimm@newnorth.net) Thurs, Jan 13, 10 a.m.-Noon, DNR (2421 Darwin
         Rd) - Madison
Coordinating Council - Karen Etter Hale, Chair (masoffice@mailbag.com)
       Thurs, Jan 13, 1-4 p.m. Same location as Habitat Committee
IBA Advisory Committee - Noel Cutright, Chair (noel.cutright@we-energies.com)
       Fri, Jan 21, 1-4 p.m., DNR Research, 1350 Femrite - Monona
Outreach - Jamie Nack, Chair (jlnack@wisc.edu)
    Wed, Feb 9, 10 a.m. - 1 p.m. DNR Research, 1350 Femrite - Monona
       Now that the Communication Plan is done, we will focus on getting publicity out about upcoming bird-related events. If you have an event planned for 2005 and would like to help (or have help), please attend the meeting or e-mail us.

IV. Other Meetings and Events Announced
(To have your bird-related event listed here, please submit a short notice with a link or contact for more information)

Noel Cutright, who recently celebrated more than 30 years of collecting Breeding Bird Survey data with an unprecedented venture, is willing (and eager) to give Quad 30 talks in 2005. He traveled the Midwest to conduct 1 survey each day of June, 2004 – 30 routes in 30 days - with the goal of raising $30,000 for bird conservation. So far, he has raised over $43,000 for the Important Bird Areas program, for which he is Chair.

For a sneak preview, see Noel's Quad30 website http://www.quad30campaign.org/ Please contact Noel at noel.cutright@we-energies.com or 414/221-2179 if you’d like to have him give a talk to your organization.

VI. U.S. FWS Coastal Program Grant

The Coastal Program provides financial and technical assistance for coastal habitat conservation. Projects are generally limited to the 16 Coastal Program focus areas: Albemarle/Pamlico Sound, NC; Chesapeake Bay, MD/PA/VA; Delaware Bay; Florida Gulf Coast; Galveston Bay, TX; Great Lakes; Gulf of Maine; Oregon Coast; Pacific Islands; Puget Sound, WA; San Francisco Bay, CA; South Carolina Coast; South Central and South East Alaska; South Florida/Everglades; Southern California/San Diego Bay; and Southern New England/New York Bight.

Projects may include habitat assessment and habitat restoration. Applicants need to contact their specific Coastal Program office. The Coastal Program is being funded at $11.6 million in FY 2005; of this amount about half, $5.8, will be available for on-the-ground project funding.

For more information, see http://www.fedgrants.gov/Applicants/DOI/FWS/FHC/Coastal-05/listing.html

--submitted by John P. Cecil, Director, Important Bird Areas Program, National Audubon Society, Ivyland, Pennsylvania 18974, 215-355-9588 ext. 15, jcecil@audubon.org

VII. North Star Science & Technology Transmitter Grant Program

North Star Science and Technology, LLC and American Bird Conservancy (ABC) announce the 3rd annual North Star Science and Technology Transmitter Grant Program.

A total of 8 satellite transmitters (Argos Platform Transmitter Terminals or PTTs) will be awarded to one or two recipients. The program is open to projects throughout the world.

PTTs are powerful, cutting-edge tools for the study of bird migration that greatly extend the range over which individual birds can be tracked. Studies using PTTs can teach us much about avian biology and contribute invaluable data for bird conservation. North Star is providing the PTTs in the spirit of giving back to the research community that they serve, with the condition that the resulting data are available for use in an Earthspan (www.earthspan.org) educational program entitled, "Eye of the Falcon," which uses satellite tracking data to teach young people about bird migration and conservation.

ABC (www.abcbirds.org) will handle the proposal submission process, review proposals, and select the winning projects. Please see www.northstarst.com for more information and proposal guidelines. Deadline for proposals is February 2, 2005. Any further questions about the program can be directed to George E. Wallace, ABC, gwallace@abcbirds.org 540/253-5780.

--submitted by Steve Miller, WDNR, Steven.W.Miller@dnr.state.wi.us

Invitation to contribute news. Please submit items for the WBCI e-News to this e-mail address. These could be anything that you and your group or agency wish to share about what is being done, where, and by whom: projects that are in the works, whether large or small, local or state-wide; activities, programs, and workshops; what the average birder might do to help out; what the problems are; or what help you might need on specific projects.

No attachments will be allowed. Instead, try to include web links whenever possible for more detail. Or if the information is lengthy, and only an attachment would be efficient, provide an e-mail contact so that those interested can ask for the attachment. The source of the item posted will be included at the end of each message.