Oklahoma Audubon Council meeting, 21 January 2012
notes taken by Donald Winslow

Participating were Jay Pruitt, John Fisher, Deane Carlberg, Michael from Stillwater, Cheryl Kilpatrick, Martin, John Kennington, Mary Jackson, and Donald Winslow

Cheryl volunteered to take minutes. (These notes are not official minutes.)

We started with personal introductions and chapter updates. Donald shared that Deep Fork Audubon has opened a bank account and elected officers. We also had two field trips last fall. We are planning a program on creating urban bird habitat for the end of March. We asked for suggestions on the process of incorporation and obtaining tax-exempt status. John K. will send us an electronic copy of Tulsa Audubon's constitution and bylaws.

Michael reported that the Payne County Audubon Society is looking for a site for a nature center.

No representative of the Indian Nations Audubon Society was present, but the chapter emailed John K. a report of their recent activities. They have been operating their MAPS banding station. They have a bluebird trail. They just finished with Eagle Days.

John K. reported that Tulsa Audubon also just finished with Eagle Days, this year in south Tulsa along the Arkansas River. They participated in the Deep Fork National Wildlife Refuge Christmas Bird Count for kids. They have been doing some Together Green volunteer projects.

The National Audubon Society is undergoing a strategic planning session. Chapter leaders should be getting email messages from Audubon President Yarnold about this. The new plan involves placing more emphasis on the role of chapters. There are some webinars taking place so that members of chapters can learn about the plan. All officers of Deep Fork Audubon should be getting email from the National Audubon Society.

There is some interest in starting a chapter in Woodward, but it is not clear if it will get off the ground.

The Lesser Prairie-Chicken Festival will offer an expanded menu of field trips this year, from Osage County tallgrass prairie in the east all the way to Black Mesa in the west. Unfortunately, we lost a lot of funding sources this year, so it is possible the festival will lose money.

The Important Bird Area program has been at a standstill. We agreed to allocate Collaborative Funding ($699) to the IBA program. Michael agreed to help give presentations about the IBA program around the state.

Together Green is a good opportunity to obtain funds for existing or new projects that require volunteer hours. The Council may put in a proposal for the IBA program. Chapters are encouraged to apply. Payne County Audubon is probably contributing enough volunteer hours to be eligible without developing new projects. Deep Fork Audubon should ask Lynne Tennefoss at National Audubon Chapter Services whether 501(c)3 status is necessary to apply. There is a deadline of 5 March and another deadline in April. John K. will send us Tulsa Audubon's application as an example.

The next meeting of the Audubon Council will be on 21 July, at Ag Hall in Stillwater.