2008 Madison Audubon Excellence Awards
FEBRUARY 2008. Madison Audubon Society recently established a new awards program to recognize individuals or groups who have worked to achieve the Society’s objectives.
The Excellence Awards are named in honor of four outstanding conservationists associated with Madison Audubon Society who dedicated their time, skills, and efforts to preserve and restore wildlife habitat, conserve birds, engage in citizen science, and educate others about natural systems. The new awards replace Madison Audubon’s Environmentalist of the Year Awards (1981-2007).
The following individuals have been named award recipients and will receive them at the Madison Audubon Society spring banquet on Tuesday, March 18, 2008
Dorothy Haines receives the James Zimmerman Award for Excellence in Environmental Education and Communication.
Dorothy has worked enthusiastically and relentlessly to promote and amplify nature to thousands of school children and adults at Goose Pond, at Otsego Marsh and Nine Springs E-Way, on field trips, and in newsletters. Her energy is amazing and her obvious love of nature is contagious. She has written and edited MAS’s newsletter CAWS; collected and written the history of the Society. She provided funding for educational signage and information. And she has set up viewing scopes and taught visitors about the wonder of the natural world for more than forty years.
Gary and Penny Shackelford and John Van Altena and Constance Brouillette receive the Cliff Germain Award for Excellence in Community-Based Restoration.
Penny and Gary Shackelford, John Van Altena and Connie Brouillette worked with the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources (WI-DNR) to establish state natural areas on their properties. These landowners are restoring habitat and preserving rare native plants, including about 200 Eastern prairie fringed orchids. They manage their land for wildlife such as ospreys, bluebirds, tree swallows, and wood ducks.
Both couples have contributed toward easements to permanently protect their natural areas and established endowment funds so the properties will be well managed for the long haul.
The restoration and habitat work of both couples received accolades and letter of support from an important array including the Prairie Bluff Chapter of The Prairie Enthusiasts, as well as WI-DNR Bureau of Endangered Resources scientists.
The Ferry Bluff Eagle Council receives the Joseph Hickey Award for Excellence in Bird Conservation.
This volunteer group has worked for more than twenty years to research and preserve critical habitat for bald eagles in the Sauk Prairie area along the Wisconsin River. Members have written articles for local newspapers, training manuals, and newsletters about bald eagles, their natural history, needs and habitat use. They radio track eagles, monitor nests and roosting sites, and record biological information on bald eagles. FBEC has created and promoted opportunities for eagle watching, and put “Eagle Watching Days” on the calendar and made Sauk Prairie an important tourist destination.
University of Wisconsin-Green Bay Professor Robert W. Howe receives the Sam Robbins Award for Excellence in Citizen Science.
Robert W. Howe supported the Wisconsin Breeding Bird Atlas project from start to final publication. For decades, Bob has led bird surveys in Nicolet National Forest and in northeastern Wisconsin. He had guided birding trips for the Wisconsin Society for Ornithology and has taught amateur birders to become citizen scientists. As a professor of wildlife biology at UW-Green Bay for more than thirty years, Bob has a special interest in ornithology. His vocation is also his avocation. He reflects the same interest, values and enthusiasm as Sam Robbins did in his lifetime of birding
For more information on the outstanding individuals for whom our awards are named and for information on how to nominate someone for an award in 2009, go to our awards page.
|
