At this writing two days before the change in national leadership, it seems clear that positive action on conservation issues from addressing climate change to protecting biodiversity will have to focus on the state and local levels. Contacting our federal elected officials will continue to be important, urging them to hold the line wherever possible, but we will need to focus more attention than ever on what can be accomplished in in our state, counties, and towns. Please note the article elsewhere in this newsletter about protecting Alaska’s Izembek National Wildlife Refuge, an essential breeding ground for many of Skagit’s wintering seabirds and waterfowl. One factor making Izembek Lagoon so important is its huge expanse of eelgrass, the largest eelgrass meadow on the U.S. west coast with Padilla Bay here in Skagit County ranking second.
Consistent with focusing on state-level protection for birds and other wildlife, the Skagit Audubon board voted in January to sign a letter by Conservation Northwest urging Governor Ferguson to increase the scant budget which Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife has to address biodiversity. The State Wildlife Action Plan, now in revision, describes the state's species in decline, but implementation funds fall far short of the need. Now is the time to take measures to prevent those species from having to be listed as threatened or endangered and either losing them or incurring much greater expense for recovery.
The Washington State Legislature began its 105-day, budget-writing session on January 13th. As mentioned in immediately previous Skagit Flyer conservation reports and in Conservation Notes on the Skagit Audubon website, Audubon’s work during the session is focusing on the goals of the Environmental Priorities Coalition (EPC) and Audubon’s own short list of additional priorities. Read about Audubon Washington’s list at Audubon Washington’s 2025 Legislative Priorities | Audubon Washington and EPC’s priorities at Environmental Priorities Coalition - Washington Conservation Action. Note that for several EPC priorities the website now has “one-pagers” with more detail.
Our legislators want to hear from us on these and other issues. There are many ways to be an active citizen spending as much or as little time as you want communicating with the elected people representing us. Here are suggested steps to becoming engaged with the legislative process and supporting Audubon Washington’s conservation priorities:
Sign up for Audubon Washington’s Action Alerts: Join Our Action Network | Audubon Washington
Sign up to receive the weekly Hot List from the Environmental Priorities Coalition which summarizes the progress of bills (Environmental Bills to Watch - Washington Conservation Action) – or read the weekly Hot Lists on the EPC website. The entries for each bill will direct you to the bill’s text and how to submit comments.
Use the recently redesigned Washington Legislative website to understand the legislative process and to learn about and access multiple avenues for communicating with legislators: Welcome to the Washington State Legislature. Note the “Learn and participate” tab near the top of the page. That tab’s drawdown menu has the helpful “How a bill becomes law” and “How to participate in the lawmaking process.” You’ll see how to comment on a bill on-line and how to indicate your support or opposition to a bill before a committee hearing.
Thank you for engaging in supporting the Audubon mission of protecting wildlife and its essential habitat by being an active citizen.
For information on other conservation issues Skagit Audubon is following, please go to the Conservation Notes on the chapter website at https://www.skagitaudubon.org/conservation-notes-letters.
emperor goose
by Sergius Hannan/Macaulay Library