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Board of Directors Profile
Karen McGinty
Karen McGinty has been a volunteer at Pinckney Island NWR since 2004 and was named the Savannah Coastal Refuges Complex Volunteer of the Year for 2006 (sharing the honor with her husband, Mike, also a dedicated Pinckney Volunteer). She is dedicated to preserving habit for wildlife and birds in particular.
Karen is one of the original members of the Friends Group Organizing Committee and has attended two national conferences sponsored by the National Wildlife Refuges Association. Her hard work and organizational skills were a vital part of the success of our general Membership Meeting in March, at which Karen was elected to our first Board of Directors. She was selected by the BOD to serve as our first Treasurer and Chair the Finance Committee.
Karen is also active in the Hilton Head Island Audubon Society and has served on the BOD of many non-profit organizations
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Refuge Staff News
Russ Webb, a Savannah native and nearly 20-year veteran of the F&WS was named in July to move up to the Refuge Manager position vacated by the recent retirement of Randy Breland. Russ is a biologist by training and a strong supporter of the Friends Group and refuge volunteers. All of us who have worked with Russ appreciate his integrity, enthusiasm, and energy. Congratulations Russ!
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Our Corporate Sponsors
The Friends Group wishes to thank out charter Corporate Sponsors for their support and financial contribution at a critical time in the development of the organization!
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Kayak or bike around Hilton Head Island or Pinckney Island NWR with Lisa and David Fleming and Water-Dog Outfitters. Be sure to thank them for their support!
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Georgia Emergency Associates is a group of emergency physicians, nurse practitioners, and physician assistants that staffs six hospital emergency departments and three immediate care centers in Southeast Georgia. Serving the Low Country's emergency needs since 1994.
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Welcome Friends:
Welcome to the second issue of your Friends Group e-newsletter! Your Board of Directors has been meeting regularly to develop our organizational structure and to prepare for the opening of the Savannah NWR Visitor Center. We are also participating in a number of training sessions offered by the Fish & Wildlife Service.
Your President (Rick Shields) and Vice-President (Allyn Schneider) attended the three-day "Developing and Working with Friends Organizations" course in Estes Park, CO, in July and shared some of the gold-mine of information they accumulated there with the BOD at their July meeting.
Twila Gray (BOD member and Chair of our Refuge Services Committee) will soon be on her way to the National Conservation Training Center in WV to participate in a course on "Volunteer Recruitment and Management".
Dr. Wasil Khan (BOD member and Chair of the Visitor Center Committee) and Amy Ochoa (Refuge Ranger from the Savannah Coastal Refuges Complex) will be attending a training session in September in Nebraska titled "Sales Outlets: Beyond Bookstores" .
Finally, your Friends Group has been selected to receive a mentoring visit from an experienced Friends Group leader from Virginia and a F&WS Project Leader from Minnesota as part of the National Wildlife Refuge System Friends Mentoring Program. This is an intensive two-day retreat (tentatively scheduled for October) for your BOD members and service leadership focusing on governance issues and strategic planning, and we feel very fortunate to have been approved for a visit less than a year since our first general membership meeting.
Your continued support will determine what and how much we can accomplish. If you are not already a member, be sure to sign up on the web site. If you are already a member, please consider making an additional donation and/or purchasing our new Friends Group Logo Lapel Pin. Your contributions are tax-deductible.
Sincerely,
Board of Directors
Friends of the Savannah Coastal Wildlife Refuges, Inc.
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Savannah NWR Visitor Center
Opening Delayed
The bad news? The long-delayed opening of the Visitor Center at Savannah NWR has been delayed again. The good news? All the regulatory and permit issues have been resolved, and the F&WS staff plan to move into their offices at the VC in mid-September. The official Grand Opening and ribbon cutting is now planned for the end of January. This will allow the Service and the Friends group to work out any problems with the building, the exhibits, or the Nature Store before going public.
We are planning for some entertainment and educational activities during the first week we are open. Let us know if you have any ideas to help make this an event to remember.
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Refuges in the News
Recent newspaper articles from the Savannah Morning News 
Friends Group member and Morning News columnist Diana Churchill won a door prize at the General Membership Meeting entitling her to assist FWS staff with Wood Duck banding at Savannah NWR. Read about her experiences HERE.
John Burke wrote a column about the upcoming hunting seasons at all of our local refuges. Check it out HERE.
Mary Landers gave some details about the stimulus money headed our way for the refuge system HERE, and also wrote an article HERE about the ban on pets at all the local refuges.
Emily Goldman accompanied Friends group member Karen Grainey on a recent Wilderness Southeast tour of the Savannah NWR and wrote about it HERE.
Michael Atkins reported on the annual Fourth of July Butterfly Count at Harris Neck NWR HERE. Identified in the article and in the accompaning photos are Eugene Keferl and Fitz Clarke, both Friends Group members.
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Change at the Top
New Director for Fish and Wildlife Service
Sam Hamilton, President Obama's nominee for Director of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS), was confirmed with strong bi-partisan support by the U.S. Senate July 31st. Formerly the FWS Regional Director for the Southeast, Hamilton has worked for the Service in an array of capacities for the last thirty years.
From his early days building fences on refuges with the Youth Conservation Corps, to restoring vital habitat in areas such as the Florida Everglades, to managing over 128 wildlife refuges in the Southeast, Hamilton has acquired a wealth of experience in both acquiring and reconstructing habitat.
During his July 22nd confirmation hearing, Hamilton highlighted the funding shortages in the National Wildlife Refuge System, noting that the System is under funded and crippled by maintenance backlogs, and that resolving this is will be a high priority. He highlighted the great strides made by volunteers and Friends groups, and emphasized that refuges are personally important to him.
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Science Corner
Threats from Beyond the Borders
In order for the National Wildlife Refuge System to achieve its wildlife conservation mission, it must look beyond refuge boundaries to surrounding ecosystems and communities. Only through proactive, collaborative, landscape-scale conservation and restoration strategies can the Refuge System effectively support Trust species and other native wildlife. This need only becomes more clear as we wrestle with the effects of a changing climate. Recent studies show that climate change is already altering the ranges of many species of birds, insects and fish, making it increasingly difficult to adequately protect these species within the confines of our existing refuge system, and requiring large-scale adaptive management strategies.
Fortunately, there is an opportunity embedded in these challenges on our refuges. National wildlife refuges can play a central role as biodiversity anchors in an evolving system of public and private conservation lands that will accommodate species migration and adaptation. As a nation, we have already made an investment in our wildlife and habitat - now it is time to leverage the investment in order to generate even greater returns for both wildlife and people.
Click HERE to find out more about the NWRA's "Beyond the Boundaries" project. --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |
Focus on Harris Neck NWR
Camp TALON visits Harris Neck NWR
Two Friends Group members, Dot Bambach and Mary Moffat, played host to the participants in this year's Camp TALON (Teen Adventures Learning Ornithology and Nature) on June 15. The campers visited Harris Neck NWR to learn about the wood stork recovery project from Dot and Mary and to take part in a bird banding demonstration by USFWS ranger Peter Range.
Camp TALON is a one-week program for teens between the ages of 13 and 17 that offers a variety of in-depth experiences to further develop the teens' interest in and knowledge about birds and nature. The program is organized and sponsored by Georgia DNR, Georgia Ornithological Society and Atlanta Audubon.------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
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| A Personal Note
From Jane Griess
Project Leader
Savannah Coastal Refuges Complex
Late on the afternoon of June 9, 2009, our house in Effingham County burned down, due to a propane barbeque grill malfunction. Within 30 minutes, the house and all the contents were essentially gone. My husband and big black lab were the only ones at home at the time, and miraculously they both escaped unharmed. In the days and weeks that followed the fire, we constantly had people asking us what we needed or how they could help.
To say that we were overwhelmed and humbled by this outpouring of support would be an understatement. Much of this support; emotional, financial, and spiritual, came for members of the Fish and Wildlife Service, the newly formed Friends Group and volunteers of the Savannah Coastal Refuges Complex! I cannot begin to express how much this support meant to me and my husband!
We will never be able to repay all the kindness and generosity that everyone has shown us following the fire. However, we can say thank you to all of you who cared about us and who supported us during this unfortunate time in our lives. We feel truly blessed to be surrounded by such wonderful and supporting people. Thank you!
Sincerely,
Jane Griess and Gordon Sloane
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Friends of the Savannah Coastal Wildlife Refuges, Inc. is a Non-Profit 501(c)3 organization incorporated in Georgia.
You received this e-newsletter because you are a member of the Friends Group or you expressed an interest in learning more about us. If you wish your e-mail address removed from our subscriber list, click on the SafeUnsubscribe link at the bottom of this issue.
To find out more about us, or to download a membership application, click on the link below.
FSCWR, Inc
PO Box 16841
Savannah, Georgia 31416
Friends of the Savannah Coastal Wildlife Refuges, Inc.
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