Audubon Academy 2008
April 4 – 6, 2008
Vero Beach Community Center & Old Court House
2266 14th Ave
Vero Beach, Florida
THEME: Audubon Chapters: Champions for a Better Florida
RATIONALE: Our communities need the voice of strong Audubon chapters throughout Florida to define and shape a better Florida, where natural lands, clean air and water are protected, and where native and migratory birds and other wildlife are part of what it means to live a quality lifestyle.

4:00 pm to 8:00 pm

Registration Open @ Sebastian Entertainment Center, 1550 Indian River Drive, Sebastian, FL (Phone 772-589-1115). About 15 miles north of Vero Beach

5:30-8:00

Wine and Cheese and evening pontoon boat birding trips to Pelican Island, America’s First Wildlife Refuge, starting at the Sebastian Entertainment Center.

7:00 - 9:30 am

8:00 am

9:30 – 10:00 am

Coffee, Tea, Danish (Room B) Vero Beach Community Center

10:00 – 10:45 am

Welcome and Opening – Welcome by David Anderson, AoF Executive Director. Your personal view of the elements that compose a lifestyle of quality and fulfillment, giving credence and authenticity to our conservation work.

10:45 – 11:45 am

Keynote Speaker – Don Outen on Sustainability and Quality of Life. Don is a Baltimore native who has worked for 35 years in land use planning and environmental management in Maryland. He is currently a natural resource manager for Maryland Dept of Environmental Protection and Resource Management.

11:45 – 12:30 pm

Lunch: Catered Gourmet Vegetarian Luncheon on site
Speakers: Seth Benz, director of Hog Island Audubon Camp, and John Ogden, AOF ornithologist

Concurrent Workshops
12:30 – 2:00 pm

Power to the People -- Using Indian River County’s new landscaping ordinance as a model, discover how your chapter can help write and make laws that promote conservation concepts in your city or county. Panel discussion led by Debby Ecker PIAS, Stan Boling, Indian River County Planning Director, David Cox, David Cox Consulting

Is Anyone Listening? -- A field guide to advocating your position – getting your message across to decision-makers. Discuss effective techniques, the importance of knowledge as a basis, doing your research, working with AOF staff, targeting the right people, the importance of timing, and using passion, not emotion to influence decisions. Panel Led by Susan Boyd.

Concurrent Workshops
2:00 – 3:30 pm

Growing Your Chapter Membership – Florida is growing, and our chapters should reflect that population surge. Chapters can lead the way to Audubon growth. How? Together, we will develop tools that all Florida chapters can use to recruit and retain members. Led by Jacqui Sulek, Audubon of Florida, and Joyce King.

Measuring Sustainability and Quality of Life – Just how do we know if our uses and abuses of the earth's resources are sustainable? Do we have a vision for the future that is sustainable? Can we agree on a definition of 'quality of life' for the world's population, even a local community? What measures can we use that are universally applicable? Who should be involved in this debate? In short, is sustainable development an end in itself or simply a journey to an ill-defined goal? We will try in this presentation to shed some light on this discussion, and talk about some national and local efforts underway to set up measures, using criteria and indicators to define and refine our definition of what is sustainable. Led by Graham Cox, New York Audubon.

3:30 – 3:45 pm

BREAK – Coffee, Tea, Cookies

3:45 – 5:15 pm

Creating a Successful Land Acquisition Program in Your County -- This workshop will provide Audubon Chapters a step by step informational process that will describe how to successfully pass a bond to preserve conservation lands in your county. The workshop will be lead by Will Abberger, Trust for Public Lands.

3:45 – 5:15 pm

Water: Translating the Science and Taking Action – Water is widely identified as the most stressed natural system in Florida. To protect this resource, proponents need knowledge of water systems and of the political process. This session will provide core principles of Florida’s hydrology and the resources to build on this foundation as well as information to help navigate the political process. Led by Ann Tihansky U.S.G.S.

5:30 – 6:45 pm

Phil Laurian, Executive Director of the East Central Florida Regional Planning Council on sustainable development
Paige the Bald Eagle, AOF Center for Birds of Prey

Florida Folk Musicians: Frank Thomas and Jeanie Fitchen

7:00 - 9:30 am

Birding Field Trip

9:30 – 10:00 am

Coffee, Tea, Danish in Old Court House across the street from the VB Community Center

10:00 am - Noon

It’s All in the (Audubon) Family: An Open Forum. All Academy participants will meet together to engage in a moderated conversation between Audubon of Florida staff members and chapter leaders. Frank, open, and honest person-to-person dialogue is needed to address our differences, reveal our common humanity, and come to a greater understanding of our shared interests.

12:00 – 12:15 pm

Audubon Academy 2009 Announcement and Information

12:15 – 12:30 pm

Evaluation and Wrap Up

Special Rate Motels in Vero Beach for Academy. No deadline on making reservations, but to get these rates reserve early, as they may sell them out. Both great locations near the Community Center.

Howard Johnson, 1725 US Hwy 1, Vero Beach Call 772-567-5171 for the $83.92 rate including 11% tax. Map directions can be found at http://www.hojo.com/HowardJohnson/control/home

Comfort Inn, 950 US Hwy1, Vero Beach Call 772-569-0900 for the $89.92 rate including 11% tax. Map at http://www.comfortinn.com

Both include a free internet and a continental breakfast although the Comfort Inn includes Waffles and hard boiled eggs.