I'm not saying that people shouldn't contribute to or join other bird conservation organizations. I just don't want birders ignore the duck stamp program because of the antiquated notion that it's for harvesting not conservation.
Sharon Stiteler Minneapolis, MN www.birdchick.com Bird/Wildlife Observation Specialist for www.eagleoptics.com On Mar 25, 2006, at 2:20 PM, Laura Erickson wrote: > As cool as it is that less than 2% of the Duck Stamp money goes to > administrative costs, that's because it's administrated by federal > agencies that get other funding, in the form of our taxes, to cover > their > administrative costs. How could Audubon, ABC, National Wildlife > Federation, and other private organizations survive and develop a > consistent, strong voice in environmental issues if they had no one to > cover their administrative costs? I agree that some large > organizations > are too "top heavy," and some top executives of them are probably too > well-compensated, but heavens! Right now people with a lot of > administrative skills in our litigious society can go to the private > sector and get paid a lot more. And most of the people who work > for these > organizations are not at all well-paid, do not get great benefits, and > don't get much respect even from those of us who benefit most > obviously > from their hard work. > > I think it's important for us all to allocate our donations for bird > conservation where we each believe our money will best be used. I > strongly support the Duck Stamp program. I also strongly support > several > environmental and bird organizations that work very hard and > accomplish > things that are very important for bird conservation. For me, it's > not an > either/or situation--I figure out how much I can afford, and divide > that > out as well as I can. The greatest successes are when individuals and > organizations work together to achieve a goal, not when we compete > with > those who should be our teammates. > > > Laura Erickson > Duluth, MN > > Staff Ornithologist > Binoculars.com > www.birderblog.com > > There is symbolic as well as actual beauty in the migration of birds. > There is something infinitely healing in the repeated refrains of > nature--the assurance that dawn comes after night, and spring after > the > winter. > > --Rachel Carson > > >>> Audubon, Nature Conservancy, National resources Defense Council, >>> Wilderness Society, American Rivers,etc., etc. >> >> >> I appreciate some of those organizations and even belong to at least >> one, but I wonder if any of those organizations are as efficient with >> their money as the duck stamp program. Less than 2% of the money >> from duck stamps goes to administrative costs, the rest goes to >> buying up habitat--that's over 98%. >> >> I really am surprised at the notion that because birders aren't >> "harvesting" ducks they shouldn't have to help buy up habitat so they >> can have the right to watch birds for free. You can watch birds >> anywhere, great birds are in backyards, but we need those breeding >> grounds in place to keep seeing them. Duck stamps help support other >> birds like warblers, rails, herons, egrets, raptors, owls, etc. >> Right now, duck hunters have to buy a stamp, but their numbers are >> going down. If those numbers continue to decline, so will money for >> buying up habitat and all the birders who feel that they can use the >> resource for free won't have much resource left to look at, let alone >> the birds that benefit from that habitat. >> >> Sharon Stiteler >> Minneapolis, MN >> www.birdchick.com >> Bird/Wildlife Observation Specialist for www.eagleoptics.com >> >> >> >> _______________________________________________ >> mnbird mailing list >> [email protected] >> http://www.mnbird.net/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/mnbird >> > > _______________________________________________ > mou-net mailing list > [email protected] > http://cbs.umn.edu/mailman/listinfo/mou-net
