8/9/2019 March 2010 Laughing Gull Newsletters St. Lucie Audubon Society

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8/9/2019 March 2010 Laughing Gull Newsletters St. Lucie Audubon Society

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8/9/2019 March 2010 Laughing Gull Newsletters St. Lucie Audubon Society

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MARCH 2010 WWW.STLUCIEAUDUBON.ORG PAGE 3

Submitted by Ed Bowes

As the new Conservation Chair, I began receivingemails about the RCC. This was a mystery; I had noidea what an RCC was! As I discovered, RCC stands

for Regional Conservation Committee, and Audubonof Florida has six RCCs. The RCCs develop plans forconservation activities and priorities for Audubon ofFlorida. Our chapter is part of the Everglades RCC,

which extends from St. Lucie County to Key West.The greater Everglades ecosystem is the focus

for conservation activities at federal and state lev-els. Federal level Everglades RCC priorities includeadvocating for a federal Water Resources Develop-ment Act and pushing for adequate federal fundingof the Comprehensive Everglades Restoration Project(CERP). State-level activities can be roughly dividedinto northern Everglades and southern Evergladespriorities. For our chapter, the northern Everglades

priorities include benefits for the St. Lucie River estuary through advocating for Lake Okeechobee water quality improvement, pressing for control of nonnative plant and animal species, eliminating lakedischarges into the St. Lucie River, and advocating

for the funding and implementation of the IndianRiver South CERP project. An overarching priority isthe prevention of development that interferes withgreater Everglades restoration and protection.

Audubon of Florida will need your support to succeed in these conservation activities. Keep abreast o

what your local governments are doing with development and land use planning. Write your state andfederal legislators in support of conservation initiatives. If you want more details about the EvergladeRCC, its recommended conservation activities, or theother five RCCs visit the Audubon of Florida Web siteat http://fl.audubon.org/ Look for the section titledCutting Edge Conservation.

Conservation Corner

L A U G H I N G G U L L

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Membership ApplicationA one-year chapter membership extends from January to January. You

may use the coupon below to begin or renew your membership.

SLAS is now offering a Chapter-only annual membership for those who

want to financially support their local chapter. The following dues options

apply:

!"""#$%&'&%()*+",-."/01"20)1"""

!"""3)4&*2+",-5"/01"20)1"(for 2 or more people in same household)

!"""6/7$871+",5."/01"20)1

!"""9):17$+",;.."/01"20)1

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8/9/2019 March 2010 Laughing Gull Newsletters St. Lucie Audubon Society

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