“Audubon New York’s new Five-Year Strategic Plan was approved by the New York State Board of Directors in October of 2009. The plan is the result of more than a year of work by the staff, with input from the State Board of Directors, local Audubon chapters from across the state, and partners in state and federal agencies and other conservation organizations. This plan will guide our work through 2014.”

On October 31st, (with a grace period until November 8th for stores to comply selling only bottled water that complies with the ruling) the Better Bottle Bill went into effect. All containers of water sold in New York under a gallon in size will now have a 5-cent refundable deposit. This law expands the state’s 5-cent deposit on beer and soda containers to include water bottles.

The new law also requires beverage companies to transfer 80% of the unclaimed deposits they collect to the state, and make other changes to improve and update the program.

Finally, the new law will improve the infrastructure for collecting and recycling bottles and cans, making it more convenient for people to return their empty containers.

This is a major grassroots victory, and one that will have huge benefits for New York. Together, these reforms will result in noticeably cleaner communities, higher recycling rates and new revenue for the state!

October 10, 2009

As the debate on the federal budget has come to an end, Congress and the President have agreed to spend $7 million for protecting and restoring Long Island Sound, more than double the funding received last year. This funding will be split between the Long Island Sound Stewardship and Restoration Acts, and stimulate efforts to improve water quality and protect important open spaces around this critical national treasure.

"Today is a great day for Long Island Sound, and this increased funding will jumpstart desperately needed water quality improvements, habitat protection initiatives, and enhanced public access opportunities, ensuring future generations will be able to enjoy a cleaner Long Island Sound.," Said Albert E. Caccese, Executive Director of Audubon New York, the state program of the National Audubon Society. "We applaud our Congressional champions, especially Congressman Israel, Congresswoman Lowey, Congressman Bishop, Senators Schumer and Gillibrand, and the rest of the Long Island Sound Congressional Caucus members for fighting hard for this critical funding."

To view a copy of the press release, click here.

Congratulations to all our winners!

Thanks to the generous support of our friends and members, we were able to raise $4,500 this year. Yes, it is almost half of what we raised last year, but in these trying times, and with a glitch occurring at the printer, we feel we did pretty well!

As always, Birdathon was a fun (and long!) day. On May 17th we started out at 6:45 AM at Alley Pond Park and finished the day up at 8:15pm at Shu Swamp. A portion of the day was rather cold, rainy and windy but despite this, our grand total for the day was 113 species. We are proud to say that the girls outlasted the boys this time around as we birded until dark! The eight locations covered were Alley Pond Park, Forest Park, Jamaica Bay Wildlife Refuge, Oceanside Marine Center, Jones Beach, Stillwell Woods, Upper Francis Pond Preserve and Shu Swamp. The highlights of the day were the black necked stilt at Oceanside, a beautiful perched peregrine falcon at Jones Beach and 19 wood duck flying in for the evening at Shu Swamp!

Many thanks to the team members and sponsors of Birdathon 2009! We would like to thank our generous donors for the sponsorship and team prizes: Fiddleheads Restaurant, The Mill River Inn Restaurant (each donated a $150 gift certificate), Wild Honey Restaurant (dinner for two gift certificate), the Grand Wine Cellar in Syosset (a gift basket worth $50), Stella Miller (who added more wine to the basket, bringing its value up to $75), David Bathie (who carved a gorgeous wooden shorebird) and Ginger Mahoney (beautiful handcrafted pottery, created in her own studio, along with coffee and scones). Thanks should also go to Stella, who obtained the restaurant and wine prizes for our event.

The lucky winners of the raffle were: Debbie Martin ($500 cash), Marie Treubert (the gift card to Fiddleheads Restaurant), Laura Eaton (the gift card to Mill River Inn) and Lucille Mayer (wine gift basket).

The folks sponsoring the team members were not the only ones who had a chance to win prizes. Team members competed to see who could bring in the most donations. Ginger Mahoney came in third, but very generously withdrew from winning her own pottery(!) and so the prize went to Douglas Caracappa. Second prize was the carving and Bill Reeves was the winner in that category. He was knocked out of last year’s first place standing by Stella Miller, who won dinner for two at Wild Honey Restaurant. Stella and Bill were in fierce competition, with Bill nipping at Stella’s heels every step of the way!

A very special thanks go to Ms. Martin who will be donating the $500 back to HOBAS’ Youth Outreach Committee to assist in our youth outreach program! Thank you Debbie!

Everyone’s efforts were much appreciated and we look forward to Birdathon 2010.

Some changes have taken place on the Board of Directors. Elections resulted in the following: President, Stella Miller; First Vice President, Blair Broughton; Second Vice President, Ginger Mahoney; Treasurer, Petie Szabo; and Recording Secretary, Simone DaRos. They serve one-year terms. Elected for a three-year term ending in 2010 were Sharon Brody, Simone DaRos, Catherine Fitts, Stella Miller, and Vinnie Schiappa. We welcome Charlotte Miska who joined the Board of Directors to fill a vacancy for a term ending in 2009 and Pat Aitken our new field trip co-coordinator. Thanks to all for sharing their time and talents on behalf of Huntington-Oyster Bay Audubon.

The board continues to work hard on local and national conservation issues.

"If you haven't received the November - December issue of Killdeer, the newsletter of the Huntington-Oyster Bay Audubon Society, do try to get a copy."
"The small newsletter is packed with eye-opening information and we recommend you sign on and join this important group."

Click here to read the article.

The Nassau County Legislature voted unanimously on Monday, February 25th, 2008 to buy most of the 31-acre Smithers Estate in Mill Neck for $7.8 million and preserve it as open space. This important acquisition creates a continuous preserve all the way to the Oyster Bay National Wildlife Refuge, helping to protect water quality so critical to the health of the Oyster Bay/Cold Spring Harbor estuary system. The Smithers estate is within a state-designated Special Groundwater Protection Area and contains two ponds, as well as many of the fresh-water springs that supply Shu Swamp, Beaver Dam, Mill Neck Creek and on into Oyster Bay. The NY State Department of Environmental Protection has documented 74 species of birds breeding in the area, and as all local birders know, this area is a safe haven for migrating birds. It also provides critical habitat for numerous fish species, such as Brook Trout and the American Brook Lamprey.

The successful preservation of this property was truly a collaborative effort by a group of local environmental organizations (such as Friends of the Bay, North Shore Land Alliance, Huntington-Oyster Bay Audubon Society, North Shore Audubon Society, TR Sanctuary, Citizen Campaign for the Environment and Trout Unlimited) who all worked to get the word out that the public needed to let their legislators know how strongly they felt that this property, ranked as the #1 priority for acquisition by the Bond Act Advisory Committee, be preserved.

The real message of this story is that by working together, local environmental groups made it easy for the politicians to say "yes". By providing them with the scientific justification for the purchase, as well as an emotional and heartfelt appeal, we helped them carry out the wishes of the 77% of Nassau County voters who supported the Bond Act and the preservation of important open spaces for the Long Island environment.

Albany, NY, December 14, 2006 - A coalition of national, state and local environmental groups, including Audubon New York, outlined a series of key actions Governor-Elect Eliot Spitzer should take to reverse the decline of New York's ocean health and make the state a national leader in ocean and coastal protection.

Last June, state lawmakers unanimously passed the New York Ocean and Great Lakes Ecosystem Conservation Act to help restore and protect the state's marine resources. The landmark legislation established an interagency Council to help coordinate marine resource management and adopted an ecosystem-based management approach for ocean and coastal resources.

According to the coalition, the next steps include creation of an Ocean Health Index as an annual report card of the state's ocean health, convening the Mid-Atlantic Governors to address regional ocean issues and supporting and funding the recently-established New York Ocean and Great Lakes Ecosystem Conservation Council's work.

To learn more about Audubon New York and their conservation work, please visit http://ny.audubon.org/.