Subject: [Tweeters] Re: Birding and photography education activism
Date: Feb 9 13:30:05 2012
From: Scott Downes - downess at charter.net


Tweets,
Wanted to make two comments; one on behalf of WOS that I am a current Board Member of and the second one as a personal opinion. I hear WOS or Audubon being talked about in terms of education and "rangers". The issue at hand is a lengthy discussion and not one I'm trying to wade into here, especially not as a representative of WOS. However, I might remind people that, WOS especially, is entirely a volunteer based organization and we already struggle to have members volunteer for some positions in the organization or representation at festivals etc.. Thus, even if that idea has merit, people might want to think about volunteer time to staff those education positions. It is easy to propose ideas but the hard part is people volunteering to actually implement them.

The second point is my personal opinion. I am a huge proponent of environmental education and the role that it can help to change the culture of conservation for the general public. However, many of us got into birding to get out and enjoy the outdoors away from high levels of structure. I see proposals of blinds being reserved, rangers stationed at places to help police actions. Perhaps in some places where people are loving the places to death it (rules/monitoring) may become necessary. If that is the case it is truly a shame. Some of the best birding I come across in the state is places like Washtucna during peak migration where many of the most avid birders in the State gather to look for unusual migrants, enjoy each others company and not have to worry about intense structure of blinds, rules etc.. As I said, some places strict rules are certainly needed (like NWRs) where the amount of visitors have an impact on the environment if not regulated. I just really hope that the amount of places that need these tight rules are kept to a minimum as we all have a somewhat free spirit in exploring and the rigidity decreases the enjoyment for many (myself included).

Scott Downes
downess at charter.net
Yakima WA