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Sea and Sage Audubon Society 5-Year Strategic PlanMission Statement:Sea and Sage Audubon Society’s mission is to protect birds, other wildlife, and theirhabitats through education, citizen science, research, and public policy advocacy.Who We Are:We are an Orange County, California, chapter of the National Audubon Society, one ofthe world’s oldest and largest conservation organizations.We connect people with birds and nature by engaging them with the natural world andall of its diversity.Our membership is comprised of people of all ages and cultures joining together as anenthusiastic community to celebrate and preserve nature.What We Do:Among the many programs Sea and Sage Audubon employs to fulfill our mission are:Conservation:Monitoring and working to preserve open spaces and areas of ecological diversitythroughout southern California, frequently networking with other Audubon chaptersand conservation organizations.Partnering with county and municipal parks to effect best practices for land use; habitatpreservation, restoration and maintenance policies; and safe trail use.Youth Education Programs:Focusing on the Outdoor Adventures Program for 4th and 5th graders with an emphasison under-served communities; and the Junior Naturalist program.Offering summer camp sessions for ages seven through seventeen, focusing on bird,native plant, butterfly, insect, and bat recognition – and the importance of habitatpreservation for all of them.Adult Education Programs:Teaching beginning and advanced birding classes featuring identification by sight andsound accompanied by field trips; bat walks led by a local bat biologist; a full schedule offield trips open to members and the public to local and more distant destinations,including pelagic trips; and naturalist-led walks at the San Joaquin Wildlife Sanctuary.Citizen Science Projects:Conducting three annual Christmas Bird Counts; the annual Orange County SpringCount; the BirdSeasons phenology study; Snowy Plover surveys; Least Tern monitoring;Board Approval Date: August 8, 2017Page 1
monthly Upper Newport Bay and San Joaquin Wildlife Sanctuary surveys; and the TreeSwallow Nest Box Program.Academic Scientific Research:Sponsoring research on ecology and conservation through the Bloom-Hays grantprogram.What Our Plans Are:To forward our mission, we will continue to expand our programs in the following broadareas of endeavor:Conservation Action: To achieve our goal of protecting birds, other wildlife, and theirhabitats, we will work in each of the following arenas:We participate in and influence local, county, and state conservation issues with the aimto protect birds and other wildlife and their natural habitats. We engage in publicadvocacy by writing letters, attending hearings, meeting with political leaders,coordinating on regional issues with other conservation organizations including otherAudubon chapters, and informing the public about threats to wildlife and their habitats.We provide conservation-related information to the public through our 4th TuesdayConservation lecture series, newsletter, website, and social media.Ongoing conservation activities that monitor and protect wildlife include: Maintaining the volunteer program for monitoring the Least Tern colony atHuntington State Beach in partnership with California State Parks; Continuing the Snowy Plover beach survey program in conjunction with the U.S. Fishand Wildlife Service and Los Angeles Audubon Society; and Maintaining the volunteer diplomatic corps to educate the public on sensitivespecies and habitats.In addition to the preceding activities, we will implement the following: The chapter will assess the feasibility of hiring a conservation director; We will develop a group of conservation specialists who can address issues arising atthe city, county, and state levels; and We will develop and maintain a conservation activist network.Nature Education: Sea and Sage Audubon Society continues to develop and promoteeducation programs connecting people to nature across Orange County andthroughout the Southern California region.Our youth education programs include: Annual enrollment of at least 55 Santa Ana, California, classes in OutdoorAdventures; Conducting seven week-long summer camp programs each year;Board Approval Date: August 8, 2017Page 2
Recruiting, training and maintaining a cadre of volunteer naturalists withinterpretive skills for sharing nature with the public through all our variouseducation programs; and Continuing our Junior Naturalist program, serving the community while having funand focusing on learning.Our adult education programs include: Continuing with the full schedule of visual and aural bird workshops for adults (andmature teens) of all levels of experience; Recruiting, training and maintaining a cadre of volunteer naturalists withinterpretive skills for sharing nature with the public; and Conducting our public program to educate the public about bats through familytargeted walks.Science and Citizen Science: To deepen our knowledge of the status of birdpopulations in Orange County we will continue/improve current projects and developnew ones.The Science Committee annually awards grants through the Bloom-Hays Fund toadvance ecological research related to birds and/or the habitats they depend on inSouthern California.The Raptor Research Committee studies and monitors the overall health of raptorpopulations throughout Orange County and California. This is achieved through ourmentorship program with college students; a long-term monitoring program at OrangeCounty parks and other reserves; and the use of study, mapping, and statistical tools tomonitor local raptor populations.We conduct citizen science programs such as: monthly bird surveys at various locationsin the county; the climate change-related phenology study, BirdSeasons California; theChristmas Bird Counts (San Juan CBC, Northeastern CBC, and Coastal CBC); the OrangeCounty Spring Count; and the Tree Swallow Nest Box program.Capacity Building: To strengthen the chapter’s ability to achieve its goals, we will takethe following steps:We will strive to increase and sustain the chapter’s membership through engagement ofthe general public (potential members) and drawing more of our current members intochapter activities.Sea and Sage Audubon will strive to promote and increase diversity at all levels of ourchapter.We will pursue creation of non-English language bird walks at the sanctuary and thedevelopment of non-English language versions of our checklists and literature.The Board of Directors will assess the feasibility of augmenting its capacity by:Board Approval Date: August 8, 2017Page 3
Recruiting a group of experts to serve in an advisory capacity on issues and actionsof the Board; Creating a Governance Committee responsible for suggesting amendments to thebylaws and other governing documents, and advising the Board on parliamentaryprocedures; and Creating effective procedures to inform new officers, directors, and committeechairs about their responsibilities and duties as Board members, and inform them ofavailable resources.We will provide the chapter with the technical tools necessary for our chapter’s success.For example, we will: Provide Sea and Sage staff and volunteers with digital tools for secure storage ofchapter documents; and Automate the chapter database so that membership records can be maintainedwithout using special software.The chapter will assess the feasibility of hiring an Executive Director.Financial Resources Development:We will strive to increase and sustain the chapter’s financial resources through a varietyof processes including (but not limited to): Developing new fundraising approaches, particularly aimed at attracting major gifts; Developing plans for the Finance Committee to increase oversight of the investmentvehicles for the chapter’s funds – and including our endowment fund – to enable thebest growth consistent with the preservation of capital, particularly the endowmentfund principal; Creating a “Donate Now” button on the chapter webpage with appropriate securitymeasures; and Finding appropriate means by which to publically recognize donors.Communications and Outreach:We will maintain the quality and caliber of our communications with members and thegeneral public through: Enhancing our use of social media, such as the chapter Facebook page; Considering a technical upgrade to the chapter webpage by migrating to a morecontemporary platform; and Continuing the fine quality of our chapter newsletter, the Wandering Tattler.We will increase the level of field trip leaders’ training to include more effectiveoutreach for member recruitment and conveying relevant conservation messages.The Audubon House Committee will ensure that Audubon House remains open to thepublic to serve as the first point of contact with Sea and Sage Audubon and as aninterpretive center for visitors to the San Joaquin Wildlife Sanctuary. Audubon Housewill continue to be open daily, except for major holidays, and staffed entirely byvolunteers. The Committee will be responsible for volunteer recruitment and training.Board Approval Date: August 8, 2017Page 4
The Events Committee will continue to oversee and support the committees responsiblefor the Annual Dinner, the Summer Barbeque, and the Pancake Breakfast.The Exhibits Committee will strive to increase opportunities to interpret the chapter’smission to the public. In part, this will be achieved through upgrading the displaymaterials and literature that are used.The chapter will continue to engage and partner with other Audubon chapters inprojects of broader scope.Evaluation: The chapter will conduct an annual review of progress toward achievementof the goals within this plan. This review cycle should be timed for September orOctober to avoid conflict with other calendarized activities.Board Approval Date: August 8, 2017Page 5
The Audubon House Committee will ensure that Audubon House remains open to the public to serve as the first point of contact with Sea and Sage Audubon and as an interpretive center for visitors to the San Joaquin Wildlife Sanctuary. Audubon House will continue to be open daily, excep
