Important Bird Areas (IBAs) - If you are a birder, Audubon member, landowner, land manager, volunteer, or just plain interested in birds and habitat conservation, you can help birds in California by nominating an Important Bird Area (IBA).

State criteria and nomination forms for identifying IBAs in California are available. We need all hands to nominate both well known and potentially overlooked sites in the state for consideration as IBAs. Nomination forms are simple to fill out. All you need is basic information on numbers of birds present at the site, habitat types, and conservation concerns or issues that are present. It is helpful to establish an IBA Committee in your chapter to help identify and nominate sites. Help is available for filling out these forms via workshops. Audubon-California staff will come to your chapter, lead IBA workshops and answer any questions while filling out the forms.

We especially encourage private landowners and public land managers to nominate or help with the nomination of their property. Once a list of IBAs is developed, it will be used to support local and statewide efforts toward cooperative conservation planning, habitat management, public education, and ecotourism.

Audubon-California is also looking for people to review nomination forms. Regional committees are being organized to review nominations in the state. If you are interested in being on the review committee in your region, please contact Kathy Gilbert at the number below.

The California IBA Program is a project of the National Audubon Society in collaboration with Partners in Fight and American Bird Conservancy. The goal is to establish a network of IBAs in each state to be protected or managed for the conservation of birds and their habitats. The IBA Program is a proactive, non-regulatory, science-based program that everyone can participate in. California is the sixth state to launch such a program. Currently, California has 39 IBAs. It's a big state out there - we need as many nominations as possible.

For nomination materials, information, or to set up a workshop or get on our electronic update list, please contact Kathy Gilbert, Audubon-California, 555 Audubon Place, Sacramento, CA 95825, (916) 481-5332 or email at kgilbert@audubon.org.

20th Annual Endangered Species Faire - Saturday, May 1, 1999, 10 AM-6 PM at Cedar Grove in Bidwell Park, Chico. Booths, games, activities, animal presentations, and music in celebration of Earth Day! Sponsored by the Butte Environmental Council and the California Department of Education Environmental Education Unit.

The theme for this 20th Annual Endangered Species Faire is The Web of Life. The goal of the Endangered Species Faire is education. Much of the information available at the faire is provided to the public free of charge. Last year, state and federal agencies and organizations including the California Department of Fish and Game; the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service; the U.S. Forest Service; the U.S. National Parks Service; Sierra Club and more than a dozen local classrooms, and youth organizations provided the community with valuable information on environmental issues. An average of 7,000 people attend the fair, providing participants with an enthusiastic audience of students, parents, teachers, and community members.

If you have any questions, please contact Kelli Bourne or Mary Muchowski at (530) 891-6424, Butte Environmental Council. Altacal will have a booth at the Faire, so come by and say hi, or call us and sign up to work the booth for an hour or two.