Bird Studies Canada seeks Volunteers to Monitor Marshes
I assist to coordinate the Marsh Monitoring Program (MMP), a unique
binational marsh bird and amphibian population monitoring initiative of
Bird
Studies Canada that has successfully engaged hundreds of volunteer
Citizen
Scientists since 1995 to measure the status and trends of
wetland-dependent
birds and amphibians, and has provided valuable information about the
health
and ecological integrity of Great Lakes basin coastal and inland
wetlands.
For several years our program has worked with many dedicated volunteer
participants to track marsh bird and amphibian populations in
Wisconsin, but
we are hoping to improve the level of volunteer participation in a few
particular regions, specifically known as Great Lakes Areas of Concern
(AOCs), by establishing local volunteer coordinators. By doing so, we
aim to
improve the capacity for the MMP to report volunteer-collected data to
the
local AOC stakeholders who are tracking environmental recovery, as well
as
to other conservation organizations such as yours.
Volunteer MMP regional coordinators will help to expand the presence of
the
MMP in these AOC regions by helping to promote the program locally,
recruit
new volunteers, provide them appropriate survey training, and mentor
and
assist their MMP monitoring activities during the survey season.
Coordinators will work closely with MMP staff to complete their tasks
and
responsibilities.
Given the Wisconsin Society for Ornithology's involvement and interest
in
bird and habitat conservation and education, I thought I would contact
you
as you might know of individuals who are interested to take on these
coordinator positions, or you might be willing to help pass on
information
about this coordinator recruitment initiative to your members or
volunteers.
We are currently looking to recruit one or more volunteer MMP regional
coordinators for the following regions:
a.. Green Bay and surrounding Brown and southern Oconto Counties
(Lower
Fox River/Green Bay AOC)
b.. Southern Marinette County (Menominee River AOC)
c.. Milwaukee and surrounding region (Milwaukee Estuary AOC)
d.. Sheboygan County (Sheboygan River AOC)
e.. Superior and surrounding northern Douglas County (St. Louis River
AOC)
Our MMP regional coordinator information brochure can be viewed at
http://www.bsc-eoc.org/download/MMPvolcoordbrochure.pdf, and an
accompanying
document describing the positions in more detail can be viewed at
http://www.bsc-eoc.org/download/MMPvolcoordescription2007.pdf. The
brochure
includes a registration form for anyone who is interested in applying
for
the position. We are hoping to have our coordinators secured as soon as
possible. Having one or more MMP regional coordinators in place would
be an
excellent way to pass on knowledge and interest in wetland monitoring
and
conservation to members of the general public. For more information
about
the Marsh Monitoring Program itself, I'd recommend visiting the website
at http://www.bsc-eoc.org/mmpmain.html.
If you know of any individuals that might be interested in helping to
coordinate MMP monitoring in any of the above regions, or in other
areas for
that matter, or if you had an opportunity to distribute these materials
in
any way, it would be greatly appreciated. Also, if you have any
comments or
questions about our plans to establish local MMP coordinators, please
let me
know. I can provide further information about these MMP regional
coordinator
positions for anyone interested, and would be happy to talk about this
in
more detail by phone if you'd like.
Thanks very much,
Ryan Archer
Assistant Coordinator
Marsh Monitoring Program
Bird Studies Canada
P.O. Box 160, Port Rowan, ON, M0E 1M0
Tel: (519) 586-3531 ext. 235
Tel Toll Free: 1-888-448-2473 ext. 235
Email: rarcher@bsc-eoc.org
