Announcements

New Lane County-focused Birding List Available, 
A Reason to Celebrate,
Thank Yous

Big Thank Yous to: 

Oakshire Brewery for hosting an LCAS Fundraiser February 6th. The brewery donated $1 for each pint of beer sold that day. LCAS volunteers who helped with the event are Rachael Friese, Rebecca Waterman, Debbie Schlenoff, and Ron Renchler. We had raffle drawings with prizes and educational outreach materials, plus pub tables full of birders enjoying the Oakshire brews. The total raised was $397! We plan to use the funds to help with the purchase of books for use in Audubon in the Schools classes! A fun way to support a worthy cause!

Dick Lamster for giving a backyard habitat and birding talk to a receptive group of 15 people at Down To Earth on February 2nd. We appreciate his ongoing outreach efforts to promote habitat for birds and other wildlife.

Richard Weeks for donating half the proceeds from his recent art show at Wandering Goat Coffee Shop in Eugene to LCAS. The other half went to Ophelia’s Place. He sold several of his wonderful paintings. Thanks so much for your generosity, Richard!

Janet Jernberg, her great niece, Starr, and great-great nephew Dominick, for doing The Quail mailing labels for the March issue. The normal crew was stranded by the snowy weather, so this small family group took on the task and got the job done. Dominick was home from school for a snow day, so he enjoyed helping them with this important project. LaRue Rodgers took The Quail to the post office a day later, after the roads had been plowed. 

We have great volunteers who give extra effort when needed! – Maeve Sowles

A Reason to Celebrate

The U.S. Senate and the U.S. House of Representatives just passed a public lands package that will designate about 1.3 million acres as wilderness, the highest federal level of land protection. This designation protects habitat from mining, timber farming, development, and motorized vehicles. Support from Oregon’s representatives in Congress helped establish about 30,000 acres of wilderness designation in our state, including the Devil’s Staircase in the coastal rainforest. About 250 miles of Oregon’s rivers gained protections under the National Wild and Scenic Rivers program. This was a bipartisan bill that many Oregonians and organizations (including ours) actively supported. Way to get it done! – Debbie Schlenoff

New Lane County-focused Birding List Available

OBOL (Oregon Birding OnLine) has gotten so huge over the past few years that it’s sometimes overwhelming. Not a criticism, just an observation. 

For those who seek more local reports, a new Lane County-focused listing of rarer birds has recently come online. Subscribers can join this free list by sending email to: lanebirds-request@freelists.org, with “subscribe” in the subject field, or by visiting a list page at: freelists.org/list/lanebirds.