September 19 Meeting -- Restoration of Atlantic Puffins on the Maine Coast

In this 2018 Year of the Bird, join Audubon scientist and founder of Project Puffin Steve Kress to learn how he restored colonies of Atlantic Puffins on the Maine coast and how these are now serving as sensitive indicators to climate-induced changes in the Gulf of Maine. He will also discuss how lessons learned from puffin restoration can help us create backyard sanctuaries for birds in a changing climate. PLEASE NOTICE: Due to the quilt show at the Gmeiner and our expectations of  a larger audience, the business meeting (open to the public) and presentation will take place at the Wellsboro High School on 225 Nichols Street, Wellsboro PA in the LGI (Large Group Instruction) Room. The business meeting will start at 5:30 PM and the presentation at 6:30 PM.

Stephen  Kress is Vice-President for Bird Conservation for the National Audubon Society and Director of the Audubon Seabird Restoration Program and Hog Island Audubon Camp.  His career has focused on developing techniques for managing colonial nesting seabirds. In this role, he manages 13 seabird nesting islands in Maine that are home to more than 42,000 water birds of 27 species including most of Maine’s rare and endangered seabirds.  Hundreds of professional seabird biologists can trace their first interest in seabirds to assisting Project Puffin, which is now celebrating its 45th year. Methods first developed in Maine for restoring lost colonies of seabirds are now standard practice worldwide. Dr. Kress received his Ph.D. from Cornell University and his Master’s and undergraduate degrees from the Ohio State University. He is author of Project Puffin: The Improbable Quest to Bring a Beloved Seabird Back to Egg Rock and many other books and scientific papers on seabird conservation.

 

Petit Manon Island off the coast of Maine

Restoration of the American Chestnut

The Tioga County Woodlands Owners Association [TCWOA] invites anyone interested in the restoration of the American Chestnut tree to attend our August 15 program at the Gmeiner at 6:30 pm.  Come learn about the greatest ecological disaster to hit the Eastern US since Europeans arrived in North America.  Find out how the American Chestnut tree, which dominated the Appalachian Mountain range from Maine to Georgia before 1900, was essentially eliminated from the forest within a generation.  What was lost?  Why was it lost?  What was the economic and social impact of that great loss?

-With all the bad news about other species under attack today, such as the hemlock and ash trees, how great would it be if we were able to reintroduce the American Chestnut to its native range?  That is precisely the goal of The American Chestnut Foundation, founded in 1983. Using a six generation back cross breeding program as well as modern genetic tools, the ACF supports scientific research in an active program to establish blight resistance in the American Chestnut tree.

-Join us at 6:30 PM on Wednesday August 15 at the Gmeiner, when Clark Beebe, president of the PA-NJ chapter of The American Chestnut Foundation presents a power-point on the life, death and rebirth of the American Chestnut tree.