Tweets and Inlanders:

I wanted to give you a little update on the Reardan Ponds (Audubon Lakes)
acquisition effort:

First of all, a great big THANK YOU to all of you that have donated so far!
The Inland NW Land Trust folks were surprised by the number of donations
received by groups and birders that were not from the immediate area!

Also, thanks to all the local Audubon chapters that have contributed!

Audubon chapters contributing:
Spokane, Coeur d'Alene, and North Central Washington

Audubon chapters promising:
WOS (I know, not Audubon!), Yakima, Kittitas, Willapa, East Lake, Gray's
Harbor, and Central Basin

As of today, $32,855 has been received by the Land Trust towards the $50,000
needed for the March 15th deadline. Another $9,500 has been promised by
organizations and individuals, but has not been received yet. (For a total
of $42,355) We are almost there!

There are some negotiations happening regarding the finalized price, but we
are still planning on reaching that original goal. The Land Trust board
members have agreed to return money to those who wish to have it returned if
the deal should fall through.

If you would still like to contribute, any donations can be made to the
Inland Northwest Land Trust (tax deductible!) www.inlandnwlandtrust.org. If
you have any questions, please contact Chris DeForest
cdeforest at inlandnwlandtrust.org, Gary Blevins blevins at spocom.com, or Vicki
Sola vsola at inlandnwlandtrust.org since I will be unavailable for the next
week.

Thanks again!

Cindy

Cindy McCormack
Spokane, WA
cbirds at comcast.net

Previous posting:

For those of you that are unaware of recent developments on the Reardan
slough (Audubon ponds) in Reardan, Lincoln Co., WA:

The owner of the acreage on the east pond was planning on subdividing it and
selling it for development. Fortunately, she contacted the Spokane Audubon
Society first, and thanks to some quick work of some dedicated people, the
Inland Northwest Land Trust has made an agreement with the land owner to
hold the property off the market until March 15th, 2004. If we can come up
with $50,000.00 by then, the property will then be held off the market for
another two years to give us time to come up with the remainder of the sale
price (price to be determined after assessment completed).
We are hoping to acquire the 270-acre property to protect this area for
birds and hope to have better (safer) access for birders (and others!) in
the future.
Even with the limited access available now, there have been over 210 species
of birds recorded at these ponds and they have been a major stop for birders
in and traveling in eastern Washington.

I am announcing this in hopes that you, or someone you know, can help us
meet these goals to preserve the Reardan Slough. We need bird lists,
photographs of the ponds, photos of birders at the ponds, and, of course,
donations. Any donations can be made to the Inland Northwest Land Trust
(tax deductible!) www.inlandnwlandtrust.org.


Please contact me if you have any information, questions, or comments.

Thanks,

Cindy