Saw this on the Missouri Listserv. I think this may be of interest to a lot of us! Danny Akers Ankeny [email protected]
> > From: [email protected] > Organization: National Audubon Society > Subject: Important and Exciting news for the Christmas Bird Count program > Date: Tue, 18 Sep 2012 10:16:26 -0400 > > > The 113th Christmas Bird Count > Audubon Science Office545 Almshouse RoadIvyland, PA 18974Tel: > 215-355-9588 ext.10Fax: > [email protected] > Greetings CBC Compilers, > > The CBC is now FREE! > > Important and Exciting news for the Christmas Bird Count program > > After nearly two years of internal discussions, budget modeling, > head-scratching, and intense decision-making, two major changes will > come to the Christmas Bird Count program effective with the upcoming > 113th Count in December, 2012. > > First, the CBC is now a free program. Audubon will no longer charge > the $5.00 fee of field participants. > > Second, to minimize the effects of the loss of fee income, American > Birds will no longer be printed on paper and mailed to participants, > and Audubon will move to an online delivery of the summary results of > the CBC. > > To help Audubon make these important decisions regarding the Christmas > Bird Count program, we invited people involved with the count to > participate in an online survey earlier this year. The results of the > online survey that many of you participated in last spring were very > enlightening, and are summarized in the upcoming 112th CBC summary > issue of American Birds-the last one to appear in print. The 130 pages > of written comments were the most telling aspects of the survey > feedback. Some people understand the fee and don't mind paying it, but > the main thrust of written comments was that the fee is a major > obstacle to the program, and the strong message was that more people > would be involved, more counts would be included in the CBC database, > and more accurate effort data would be collected if the fee was > dropped. > > Also highly informative were peoples' comments regarding American > Birds. While a few folks commented that they enjoyed the information > it contains and enjoy reading at least parts of it each year, the > primary sentiment expressed was that recipients do not value American > Birds in its current format, that they do not read most of it. Many > survey respondents felt that an interactive, online version of the > magazine would better suit their needs-especially if the participation > fee was dropped. > > In order to continue to fund the Christmas Bird Count program in the > long term, Audubon will be moving to a voluntary donation model for > the CBC. > > With the online delivery of American Birds via a new interactive web > presence including photos, summaries, and features, content can now be > presented online as they are completed. Most critically, a new > Citizen Science gateway will enable Audubon to be in touch directly > with those participants who elect to take part and directly service > the needs of participants as well as compilers. > > While the integrity of the CBC is crucial to maintain for its bird > trend data, it has become equally important for the ability to engage > people in other citizen science projects. Toward that end Audubon > will be expanding its Citizen Science projects, and the CBC will, of > course, be a cornerstone program. > > The Audubon Science team is now working with the Information > Technology division to implement changes and improvements to the new > CBC data entry application. The most important changes will be to > make the application faster and easier to navigate. Additionally of > course, with the dropping of the mandatory participant fees the entire > fee payment section will be dropped and the participant list section > will be simplified. The opportunity to donate to the CBC program will > be available in various places on the data entry application and for > those who register in advance for the CBC, as well as on the CBC > website. > > Once the new version of the data entry application is ready, we will > be in touch with a new CBC Data Entry Manual available to compilers. > We will be in touch with compilers via email as portions of the > application are available to you, including the initial post-a-date > version of the application. > > Starting in early October we will also be able to make any requested > changes of compilers and begin the process of setting up new CBCs for > the upcoming 113th CBC. > > Audubon extends our deepest thanks to all of you for your long > standing dedication to the Christmas Bird Count program. We > especially appreciate your willingness to share your views with us, > and this information has been crucial to the decisions summarized > here. > > The Budget Summary for 112th CBC is available in the online version > and hard copy of the letter you will be receiving in the mail shortly. > > We thank you for your work in making the CBC the continued success that it is. > > Thanks very much, and have a wonderful FREE Christmas Bird Count > season. Good birding! > > Geoff LeBaron Gary > LanghamDirector, Christmas Bird Count > Vice-President & Chief ScientistNational Audubon Society > National Audubon Society --- Please contribute your sightings to our list; it is only as good as members make it! --- Birding channel recommendation for FRS/GMRS radio use: Primary selection; channel 5/0 , alternate selection; channel 6/0 --- This mailing list is sponsored by the Iowa Ornithologists' Union. Membership available on-line at http://www.iowabirds.org/iou/PayDues.aspx. ----- You are currently subscribed to ia-bird as: [email protected]
