State of the Society For 2007

By John Harrison, 2007 President

continued, page 3

Field Excursions and Service Activities: During 2007, the Society offered eighteen field outings, continuing the recent upward trend, from 12 in 2006 and 11 in 2005. O`ahu field trips included two windward wetlands tours, a whale watch cruise, the Waimea Valley south ridge loop hike, the Makapu `u Lighthouse hike, a Ho `omaluhia gardens birding tour, three trips to Paikö Lagoon for reef and mudflat explorations and to observe migratory shorebirds, two behind-tthe-scenes tours of Bishop Museum's bird collections and the Honolulu Zoo bird collections, a tour of John Harrison's renewable energy house, the `Aiea ridge trail hike, and a James Campbell National Wildlife Refuge birding tour. In addition, the Society offered two service projects on O`ahu in 2007, including weed removal and trash pickup at Ka `ena Point and habitat restoration at Kane`ohe Marine Corps Base. HAS re-eestablished its neighbor island field component in 2007 with one field trip held on the island of Hawai`i, during which participants visited several North Kona birding sites. The Society hopes to further expand its neighbor island presence next year.

In December 2007 and January 2008, the annual Christmas Bird Counts were held at Honolulu and Waipi`o on O`ahu, Waimea and Kapa `aon Kaua`i, `Iao Valley and Pu `uo Kaka `e on Maui, Kualapu`u on Moloka`i, and Volcano and North Kona on Hawai`i Island. HAS volunteers served as organizers and team leaders of the counts, which operated in conjunction with Christmas Bird Counts at thousands of locations in the U.S. and around the world.

HAS also promoted participation in the Great Backyard Bird Count, which is held each February as a joint project of the National Audubon Society and the Cornell Lab of Ornithology. Both bird counts serve to monitor changes in the size and health of bird populations.

Volunteer Activities: Members contributed to the Society by volunteering their time during service trips, staffing the HAS booth at fairs, and helping in the office. Special thanks go to Ron Walker of the HAS Board of Directors for his weekly contributions of time and expertise toward HAS office operations.

Awards:At the 50th Hawai`i State Science and Engineering Fair, HAS awarded two prizes for outstanding student research relating to Hawaii 'snatural history. Emma de Vries, a freshman at Le Jardin Academy on O`ahu, received the HAS Senior Division Research award for her project entitled "The Correlation Between Salinity and Bullfrog Distribution." Emma Tunison, an eighth grader at Volcano School of Arts and Sciences on the island of Hawai`i, received the HAS Junior Division Research award for her project entitled "Makin' Moa Koa" `Elepaio 67:4, May 2007).

Kamaile Nichols received the George C. Munro Environmental Law Award, which is given to the top environmental law student at the W. H. Richardson School of Law for the preceding school year.

In October, the Society held its fourteenth Annual Awards Dinner at Treetops Restaurant at Paradise Park in Manoa. Four awards were presented to distinguished members of the conservation community. Peter Young, former Chairman of the State Board of Land and Natural Resources, received the President's Award for his commitment to natural resource protection and community outreach. Scott Fretz, Wildlife Program Manager for the State Division of Forestry and Wildlife, received the Conservation Award for his ability to build strong coalitions for the protection and recovery of native wildlife. The Hawai`i Conservation Alliance (HHCA) received the Environmental Education Award for its actions to raise public awareness about environmental issues in Hawai`i, particularly through their sponsorship of the annual Hawai`i Conservation Conference. Environment Hawai`i received the Environmental Journalism Award for covering issues that raise public awareness about the need to protect Hawaii's native wildlife and cosystems.