Murray, this council (aka EVOS Trustees Council) was set
up to administer the hefty settlement (or judgment, I forget
which) paid by Exxon to Alaska as compensation for the
damages from the Exxon-Valdez oil spill. It can use the
money for scientific studies related to recovery of damaged
species or land acquisition in uplands bordering the spill
area (Kachemak Bay was impacted). It could also use
the money for projects that promote recovery of damaged
species, but I can't think of any examples of that. Maybe
someone will come up with a captive breeding program
of say, Harlequin Ducks.

Anyway I posted a follow-up to that Winging It notice a
few weeks ago, since I thought that land acquisition on
the Homer Spit was a prime piece of bird habitat:

>Good news on the birding land front, Tweets. Maybe some
of you caught the small article in the September Winging It
about shorebird habitat on Alaska's Homer Spit. Kachemak
Bay, which the Spit juts out into, is on the list of important
sites in the Western Hemisphere Shorebird Reserve
Network. Some of the private land along the Spit is good
mudflat area for shorebirds and accessible to the many
birders who now attend the KB Shorebird Festival. This
private land came up for sale recently and there was a
chance for the Exxon-Valdez Oil Spill Trustee Council to
purchase it for conservation.

Don't know whether the Winging It article did the trick,
but I know many birders let their voices be heard in
favor of this purchase and vavoom! It was done!

I think almost 100 acres are involved here and not a
moment too soon as the spit is developing into
commercial/industrial very rapidly.

If any of you wrote, many thanks.>

Chris Maack
Anchorage, AK
CMaack at compuserve.com