The drive to preserve Sonoma County's ridgelines, wildlife areas, scenic corridors, clean water, and rustic farmlands is at a crossroads. This November, the voters of Sonoma County will decide the fate of the open space district they created in 1990 and the future of their natural surroundings.

The Sonoma County Agricultural Preservation and Open Space District uses a ¼% sales tax to purchase open space and preserve farms. It is one of the top five farmland and open space preservation programs in the nation and the first special district established for the purpose of protecting agricultural lands. To-date, the District has preserved nearly 70,000 acres of land: agricultural, greenbelt (including scenic corridors), natural resources (including riparian areas and scenic ridgelines), and recreational land. However, this funding runs out in 2011, and the District is returning to the voters for a 20-year extension.

The District has protected over 13,000 acres as park land. This is equal to over twice the size of Sebastopol, Rohnert Park, and Cotati combined. Several of these properties are publicly accessible today. If the ballot measure passes this November, the District will have the funding to make accessible to the public more of the land it already owns.

The District also puts a priority on preserving our county's beautiful natural resources. For example, some purchases that provide crucial habitat for local birds (as well as fantastic birding) are the Alman Marsh and the Petaluma Enhancement Project additions to Shollenberger Park in Petaluma, the Laguna de Santa Rosa, and Audubon's Mayacamas Mountain Sanctuary.

The District also plays a key role in ensuring a reliable supply of clean water by preserving some of Sonoma County's most important watersheds and riparian areas.

Besides environmental protections, another key role is ensuring that Sonoma County farmers can continue to grow local produce and produce other agricultural products, such as organic milk. Over 33,000 acres preserved by the District lie in agricultural protection, including 15% of the remaining active dairies in Sonoma County.

Sonoma County spans a total of over a million acres. This might seem like a lot of land. But today, as jobs become more mobile and businesses move away from regional centers like San Francisco, the Sonoma County lifestyle will continue to draw more people to the area. The county's population has grown by more than 20 percent since the date the District was created (1990) and is projected to nearly double from that time by 2020. With growth pressures, many of our agricultural and open lands are at risk and could be lost forever. Agricultural preservation and open space purchases have cost over $168.7 million, but the properties were worth $221.6 million, allowing the District to purchase very valuable land (highly vulnerable to development) for a very cost-effective sum.

If we are to continue preserving important ridgelines, scenic corridors, wildlife preserves, riparian areas, local agricultural production, clean water sources, and publicly accessible places with the natural beauty of our county, the District clearly has a lot of work yet to do. To accomplish this goal, the Sonoma County Board of Supervisors decided on 18 July 2006 to put an initiative on the ballot this November for a 20-year extension to the sales tax for the District.

This is a defining moment for the District. If the voters decide to extend the same ¼% sales tax for another 20 years, the District has plans to go above and beyond its already ground-breaking accomplishments. In its new acquisition plan for the next 20 years, Connecting Communities and the Land, the District adopts the philosophy that the healthiest community is one that interacts with the environment on a daily basis. The new plan is part of a strategic approach to open space protection known as "green infrastructure." The plan focuses on making open space a part of our communities - linking the spaces that connect our communities, those that protect agricultural lands and link urban communities, open spaces, trails, and wildlife habitat.

This November, the voters will decide the future of the Open Space District. If you want to help with the Open Space District's campaign, please call Brian Bottari at 535-2106 or e-mail FriendsOfSonomaCounty@yahoo.com.

After a 40-year career in the US Foreign Service and the academic and foundation world, Ted Eliot and his wife Pat moved to Sonoma County in 1988. He is a lifelong birder and Audubon member, former PRBO Board member and Chair, former Board member of the Cornell Laboratory of Ornithology, and an active member of the Redwood Region Ornithological Society. His interest in birds has led him to become an avid supporter of efforts to conserve habitat. He therefore has become deeply involved in Sonoma County's land conservation programs.

In 1990, Ted canvassed for the ballot measures which established the County's Agricultural Preservation and Open Space District. In 1992, he was appointed by then County Supervisor Mike Cale to the District's Advisory Committee and has served on it ever since, including a stint as chairman. Currently, Ted is co-chair of the Friends of Sonoma County Open Space, Agriculture, and Clean Water Committee, leading the campaign for the measure to continue the District's quarter-cent sales tax. The measure is on the November 7, 2006 ballot. Ted will give a slide presentation on the achievements of the District and then talk about the campaign.

COMING IN OCTOBER: Dr. Nils Warnock, Co-Director of the Wetlands Ecology Division at PRBO Conservation Science, will present "Wings over borders - shorebird migration along the Pacific Flyway."

Our featured bird this month is the Vaux's Swift. A natural choice considering that September is when these amazing birds create one of the most incredible avian spectacles in Sonoma County. Each fall thousands of these swifts gather to roost in a two-story chimney at Rio Lindo Academy in Healdsburg. This chimney is one of several staging areas for the swifts along the west coast. During this time the swifts begin to congregate in large groups as they prepare for their migration to South America. Since 1990, the Rio Lindo site has been an active roost with estimated populations of 10,000 to 15,000 birds during the peak of the roosting period, around the third week of September.

About an hour before sunset, the swifts will begin to gather at the roost and circle in the sky above the campus. As the light begins to fade, the flock will pull together and begin swirling around the chimney. Gradually they will funnel into the roost for the night - kind of like a magic genie going back into the bottle. Once in the roost, the swifts pack tightly together and cling to the inside of chimney facing upward. Swifts have short legs and tiny weak feet, but their stiff tails provide the support they need to perch on vertical surfaces. Swifts never perch horizontally.

Although the swifts at Rio Lindo are mostly migrant birds, Vaux's Swifts do breed in Sonoma County. In the old days, when we had an abundance of old-growth forests, swifts would commonly nest in a hollow tree snag. Our modern day swifts substitute chimneys for snags. Affixed to a vertical surface, their nests are an open half-circle of small twigs glued together with the bird's sticky saliva.

With the exception of incubating their eggs, brooding their young, and roosting, swifts do everything on the wing. They forage, drink, court each other, copulate, and collect nesting materials all while they're in the air. While in flight, swifts look something like a small flying cigar with a short tail and long crescent-shaped wings. Their wing beat is rapid and almost bat-like.

Swifts are strictly insectivorous. They forage in the air over forest canopy, grassland, and water, consuming vast amounts of flying insects and ballooning spiders. One reference stated that a nesting pair of swifts will feed their young approximately 5000 small insects each day.

If you wish to see these remarkable birds during their migratory journey, plan to visit the Rio Lindo Academy between September 15 and 22 when the number of birds at the roost is at its peak.

Rio Lindo Academy has not restricted visiting of the swifts' roost, but observers are encouraged to carpool, to park quietly at least a block from the chimney, and to observe from the opposite side of the facing street. To get to the Academy from Highway 101, exit at Old Redwood Highway/Healdsburg Ave, south of the Central Healdsburg exit. Go north to Bailhache Avenue, turn right onto Bailhache, which becomes Rio Lindo Avenue, and follow it about three miles to the Academy's main entrance. Turn left at the first stop sign, and left again just before the dormitory. After half a block, turn right toward the rear of the campus. The chimney (which is part of an old heating system and is quite substantial) is on a side street west of the athletic field.

CALISTOGA: Rita Squire. GUERNEVILLE: Stephen F. Woodbyne. PETALUMA: June Anderson, Mike Arapov, Bill & Cathy Henrich, Susan Kirks, Jane W. Merryman, Bill & Karen Morgenstern, Maureen O'Reilly & Russell Pulver, Tom Reynolds, Linda M. Sheppard, Clarice Stasz, Cheryl Stern, and Raymond L. Thompson. SANTA ROSA: Rick & Sharon Abbott, Phillip and Kathryn Carlsen, Lori Carson, and Dorothea R. Lyman. SEBASTOPOL: Bob & Linda Cadwell, Donna J. Dibble, and Luba V. Hunt. SONOMA: Mari Emmons. WINDSOR: Stanley M. Salomon.

Many honeymooners opt for a cruise or a beach resort. Not wildlife biologist Karsten Heuer and his new bride, filmmaker Leanne Allison. In April 2003 they set out to trace the Porcupine caribou herd as it migrated from its winter range in the Yukon Territory to its fragile calving grounds in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, and back.

The 1,000-mile, five-month-long journey traversed four mountain ranges and dozens of rivers, and included several wicked Arctic storms. Alarmed at the prospect of oil drilling in the Arctic refuge, which President Bush and congressional Republicans continue to push for, the couple wanted to see and feel the caribou up close. "Our task would be to follow them, move like them, act like them, perhaps even think like them, and see what we learned along the way," writes Heuer, who has worked in Canada's Banff and Jasper National Parks as a wildlife biologist and park warden.

The journey proved to be a life-altering experience for the newlyweds as they witnessed several births and deaths among the 125,000-strong herd. Wolf howls greeted them in the morning, and caribou, in full view near their tents, charged into a river to swim across. "Buoyed by hollow fur and propelled by paddlelike hooves, they looked as unstoppable as when we'd seen them dashing across the same frozen, snowy river five months before," Heuer writes. "There was no transition when their hooves touched bottom. Swimming flowed into walking, and the shuddering caribou came ashore beside us, showering the muddy bank with diamonds of water and light."

Filled with such wonderful moments, Being Caribou is a journey well worth taking for readers who want to viscerally understand what's at stake in the battle over drilling in the Arctic.

Washington, DC, August 3, 2006 - The Senate's vote on Monday cleared the way for final approval of offshore drilling legislation there, and follows House action last month, where a broader bill was approved. It remains unclear whether the two bodies will be able to work out a compromise.

According to Mike Daulton, Director of Conservation Policy, National Audubon Society, "It's unfortunate the Senate has chosen to pass legislation opening our precious coastal areas to offshore drilling. Americans want our leaders to enact real solutions to our oil dependence, not just more favors to big oil companies.

"The oil and gas industry already has access to over 80 percent of the known reserves of oil and natural gas in our offshore areas. They have rights to more than 4,000 untapped leases in the Gulf of Mexico alone. It makes no sense to put our coasts at risk when the industry has not even tapped into the leases they already have.

"Offshore drilling does little more than offer some false hope to consumers that it may lower gas prices. Perhaps the gulf that exists between the House and Senate versions of this bill will spur Congress to consider energy solutions that actually reduce our dependence on oil."

For more information about the bill, please visit: http://www.audubon.org/news/press_releases/OffShoreDrilling_07_31_06.html.

Biodiversity Values of Geographically Isolated Wetlands in the United States
From NatureServe, a Network Connecting Science With Conservation
As a result of a 2001 Supreme Court decision (Solid Waste Agency of Northern Cook County vs. U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, 2001), some wetlands and other waters that are considered "geographically isolated" from navigable waters no longer fall under the jurisdiction of the Clean Water Act. Scientific assessments of the potential impacts of the court's decision are needed to provide guidance to the federal agencies, states, tribes, and local governments that will have responsibility for protecting these valuable resources.
This study's goal was to assess potential impacts of the court's decision on the nation's biological diversity. A nationally standardized classification of wetland ecological systems was used, followed by a working definition to categorize types as "geographically isolated." Using expert knowledge of these wetland types, the national list of wetland ecological systems was narrowed to those that tend to occur "geographically isolated" from navigable waters. Through review of scientific literature, input from regional experts, and compilation of existing location data for at-risk species, those at-risk species and plant communities (those species and communities considered rare, imperiled or critically imperiled using NatureServe's standard criteria) were identified which are supported by these isolated wetland types throughout the United States.

This assessment used the best currently available information. Because comprehensive wetland maps are unavailable nationally, this study focused on documenting the number, or diversity, of isolated wetland types, rather than on the acreage these wetland types occupy. These analyses could be significantly augmented in the future with the collection of additional data on the occurrence of isolated wetland types, their spatial extent, and their associated species and communities.

Key Findings
Significant wetland diversity exists in every state of the nation. Of 276 types of wetland described for the United States, 81 (29%) met the project-specific definition of "geographically isolated." These types of wetlands may no longer be regulated under the Clean Water Act. Their regulation will therefore largely be determined by how lawmakers, regulators, and the courts interpret the term "isolated." Of the 636 U.S. terrestrial ecological system types (both upland and wetland) currently classified and described by NatureServe (NatureServe 2005), these 81 isolated wetland types amount to 13% of all "natural/near-natural" terrestrial ecological system types.

This study documents that isolated wetland ecological systems support high levels of biodiversity, including significant numbers of at-risk species and plant communities. For example:

· A total of 274 at-risk plant and animal species are supported by isolated wetlands, with more than one-third (35%) apparently restricted to these wetland types. At-risk animal species are even more closely tied to isolated wetlands; more than one-half of at-risk animals considered in this study appear to be restricted to a particular set of environmental conditions in isolated wetland habitats.

· A total of 86 plant and animal species listed as threatened endangered, or candidates under the Endangered Species Act are supported by isolated wetland habitats. This represents about 5% of all plant and animal species currently listed under the Act. A majority (52%) of these listed species are completely dependent on isolated wetland habitat for their survival.

· Nearly half of isolated wetland types (35 of 81, or 43%) are known to support at least one listed species under the Endangered Species Act.

· On average 6% of the at-risk plant species in a given state are directly supported by isolated wetlands.

· Nearly one-quarter of U.S. counties (725 counties, or 23%) harbor at least one at-risk species associated with isolated wetland habitats, and 80 of these counties have five or more such species. Ten or more at-risk species associated with isolated wetlands are confirmed from 18 counties of California, South Carolina, North Carolina, Georgia, Alabama, Nevada, and Hawai'i. Merced County, California leads with 20 at-risk species tied to isolated wetland habitats.

· A total of 279 at-risk vegetation associations (9% of all plant community types classified in the U.S. National Vegetation Classification) were documented as being characteristic of isolated wetlands, and two-thirds (67%) of these associations are not found in any other types of habitat.

Wetlands that can be considered "geographically isolated" represent a considerable amount of the United States' ecological diversity and provide habitat for a considerable portion of the nation's flora and fauna. Significant loss of isolated wetland habitats could seriously affect opportunities for the survival and recovery of the many rare or endangered species that depend on them.

States, tribes, and local governments will increasingly be in a position to decide the fate of those isolated wetlands that no longer are protected under the Clean Water Act. The information and analyses contained in this study are designed to assist policy-makers and land managers at federal, state, and local levels to better understand their biodiversity value and plan for their conservation.

Contributing Authors: Patrick Comer, Kathy Goodin, Adele Tomaino, Geoff Hammerson, Shannon Menard, Milo Pyne, Marion Reid, Marcos Robles, Mary Russo, Lesley Sneddon, and Kristin Snow

The complete report is available for download on NatureServe's Web site: www.natureserve.org

BOLINAS LAGOON PRESERVE
Call (415) 868-9244 for information/reservations or go to www.egret.org.

Docent Training. Beginning in September and running for 23 Wednesdays, 9:00 AM - 2:00 PM. (Special notes: ACR's school program will receive Sierra Club's Environmental Justice Award on October 6. College credit is available at Sonoma State.)

Fall Work Day. Saturday October 7, 9:30 AM - 1:00 PM, free lunch. Help us with trail work, library work, miscellaneous weeding, or cooking lunch. Please call (415) 868-9244 to register so we can plan on enough food.

BOUVERIE PRESERVE
Call 938-4554 to register.

Resource Management Days. September 11, October 23, November 13, and December 2, 8:15 AM - 12:30 PM. Come help clear trails, pull nonnative plants. Limited to 15 participants each day.

Fall Work Day. Saturday September 30, 9:30 AM - 1:00 PM, free lunch. Please register so we can plan on enough food.

Join the Shollenberger Park Docent Program. Can you recall the first experience you had with nature? Was it finding a speckled bird egg tossed out of its nest… or an ant carrying a breadcrumb larger than itself? Petaluma Wetlands Alliance (PWA) is looking for docents who want to bring exciting experiences of nature to nine- and ten-year-olds through classroom and field adventures. The 2006 training course starts Friday September 8 and will consist of sections on wetlands ecology, plants, birds, other wetland animals, and hands-on techniques used with the kids. We will meet from 8:30 AM to Noon on six consecutive Fridays at either Lucchesi Community Center or Shollenberger Park. Call Bob Dyer at 763-2934, Sharon Mansfield at 778-6558, or visit the PWA Web site at www.petalumawetlandspark.org.

Spring Lake WildCare Training. Fall training for volunteer nature guides at Spring
Lake Park in Santa Rosa begins September 16 and continues September 30, October 14 and 28, ending November 18. Training takes place in San Rafael at 76 Albert Park Lane and at Spring Lake. Learn to guide schoolchildren, kindergarten through 5th grade, on nature walks. New guides will lead small groups of children in the late fall. Commit to volunteer six hours a month during the school year. For information and to register for training: (415) 453-1000 x 21, or visit www.wildcarebayarea.org.

Guided Walks in the Laguna. Two docent-led walks in the Laguna de Santa Rosa are scheduled: September 6th , Wednesday, 6:30 PM and September 16th, Saturday, 9:15 AM. Meet BEHIND the Sebastopol Youth Annex, 425 Morris St. Donation of $5 is requested. For more information, contact Mary Abbott, Education Coordinator at 527-9277 x 102, or e-mail mary@lagunafoundation.org.

Sonoma County Coast & Creek Cleanup Day. This is an international coastal cleanup event with California Coast & Creek celebrating its 22nd year. Saturday September 16, 9 AM--12 Noon at cleanup sites; 12 Noon -- 4 PM volunteer appreciation BBQ at Doran Beach Jetty area. To pre-register as a group or individually: call 829.6689 x 5, e-mail wtaraja@coastwalk.org, or visit www.coastwalk.org. Individual participants who have not pre-registered and are interested in participating at a coastal cleanup location can simply arrive at 8:15 AM at the Salmon Creek Ranger Station located on California HWY 1 (3 miles north of Bodega Bay) on Saturday September 16th. We will offer beach assignments to those folks.

Wings of the Warners Festival. September 16-17, Alturas, CA. Located at the Veteran's Park just south of Alturas, the Warners Festival takes place annually in conjunction with the Hot Air Balloon Festival. The festival is a combined effort among the Modoc National Wildlife Refuge and other entities. The refuge will have a booth at the park on Saturday where many activities for all ages will be held. On Sunday, guided tours will be available both on and off the refuge. For more information: call the Alturas Chamber of Commerce, (530) 233-4434 or the River Center, (530) 233-5085.

Monterey Bay Birding Festival. September 22-24, Watsonville, CA. Contact: the Santa Cruz County Conference and Visitors Council at (831) 425-1234 or (800) 833-3494 and the Monterey Bay Birding Festival Registration at (831) 763-5600.

Salmon Festival. Saturday September 23, 10 AM - 4 PM. Salmon festivities: nonprofit information, food booths, and salmon at the hatchery; crafts and vendors in downtown; special events at the Nature Center; and an Art Show at the State Theater. Historic Downtown Oroville, Bird & Myers Streets, Oroville, CA 95965 or phone (530) 538-2542.

Madrone Audubon wishes to heartily thank the members of the four teams that participated in the Birdathon in February and those who loyally supported them. At last count over $7500 was raised by their efforts. A big thank you to all!

From the Feather Questers Team, Diane Hichwa and Karen Nagel:
Karen & Jay Abbe, All Tails Wagging Veterinary Clinic, Clinton & Dorcas Allison, Ev & John Berger, David & Jean-Marie Black, Donna Bley, Jayne Brogan, Sam & Viola Brown, Garrett & Lynn Cominsky, Buff & Gerry Corsi, Gwen Dhesi, George & Phyllis Ellman, Don & Donna Friedrich, Jim & Glenda Gentile, Claire Green & Steve Sapers, Val Hanelt, Stephen Hemenway, Katherine Hichwa, Emile & Linda Houle, John & Jo Kleis, Rich Kuehn & Dean Shuler, Ann Leavell, Ann Luft, Craig & Kelly Olson, Dave & Chris Powell, Phyllis Schmitt, Jim Seeser, Tom & Lavetta Stankus, Ruth Stanton, Judy & Phil Temko, Liz Thach, Danna Vough, Janice Vough, Arlene Weis, Dennis & Mary Wheeler, Bryan & Nancy Yamasake, Ann Young, Cathy & Larry Zbikowski.

From the Roadrunners, Betty Groce and Jean Tonascia:
Gary & Terry Haag, Richard Hurley, Donald Howard, Andy LaCasse, Tom McCuller, Janette Evans, Helen Kochenderfer, Janet Bosshard, Don McCarthy, George Batchelder, Jim Clegg, Tony Kroha, Jim Batchelder, Frances Waska, Sandy Martensen, Shirl & Tom Maxson, Neal Conner, Lise Stevens, Dorothy Small, Janeann Erickson, Doug & Barbara Murray, Malcolm & B.J. Blanchard, Ellen Bingel, George & Phyllis Ellman, Mary Winkler, Margaret Owles, Edith Moran, Dianne & Steve De Salvo, Shirley Leaphart, John & Barbara Hopper, Carol Orme, Christine Cohen, Marilyn & Frank Rathman, Jack Schuyler, Cynthia & John Rathky, Ernestine Trujillo, Don Sampson, Rhio Reigh, Catherine Hickey, Laura Stanley, Harriet Draper, Ardis Talburt, Jayne & Owen Buscho, Bill Knill, Ann Anderson, Stan & Hedda Gold, John & Polly Post, Claramae Hoffman, Francis Kohn, Judy Morrison, John & Betty Richardson, Marilyn Strand, Betty Witchey, June England, Beth Combs, Bunny Schmitt, Louise Eddy, Bobbie Sparrow, Rachel Corso, Beverly Cowden, Nora Ernst, Leslie Goodrich, Marilyn Sanders, Jack & Joy Ryan, Cy Stewart, Peter Bellman, Mike Parmeter, Jaci Rienecker, Maureen Rumford, Bob Frescura, Barbara & Lawrence Taylor, Susan Harris, Florence Evans, Jack Troutfetter, Lew & Marilyn Edmondson, Sam & Viola Brown, Barbara & Gene Toschi, Dennis Beall, Jim & Sandy Gilmer, Gordon Harlander, Pat Marsh, Judith Barker, Jules & Barbara Glaser.

Random Notes

Red foxes on the Loose in Shollenberger Park. Important: please report sightings with date and time to Bob Dyer, 763-2934.

A Change in Leaves Production Editor, from Diane Cobb to Jan Crook
Diane, Madrone Audubon thanks you for the many, many issues of Leaves which you have produced for us. All of our members have looked forward to each issue, knowing it would arrive with the same professional quality they had come to expect. Your creative talents contributed immensely to this success, and you will be missed. All of us are hoping for a speedy improvement in your health.

And to you, Jan, we say welcome aboard.

Dues Due in September. Just a reminder that dues for membership in Friends of Madrone Audubon Society are due September 1. If you became a new member during 2006 your membership will not expire until September 1, 2007. A notice with return envelope will be in the mail within a few days if you have not already received it. Thank you for your continuing support.

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