URGENT: Speak up for the Arctic Refuge! arcticrefuge2
Tundra Swans. Photo by Milo Burcham
The House and Senate are expected to vote on a final tax bill in the coming days. This tax bill could open the  Arctic Refuge to oil drilling.  If you live in the states below, please CALL these representatives and tell them to vote NO on the tax bill to protect the Arctic Refuge. If you know anyone in these states, ask them to call!

Maine: Senator Collins, 202-224-2523

Pennsylvania: Rep. Fitzpatrick (Bucks and Montgomery Counties), 202-225-4276, 215-579-8102 & Rep. Costello (Berks, Chester, Lebanon, and Montgomery Counties), 202-225-4315

South Carolina: Rep. Sanford (Charleston, Mount Pleasant, Beaufort), 202-225-3176

New Jersey: Rep. LoBiondo (Vineland, Atlantic City, Cape May), 202-225-6572

New York: Rep. Donovan (Staten Island, South Brooklyn), 202-225-3371

For over a century, Audubon's Christmas Bird Count has been a time-honored tradition. Community Science data collected during the Christmas Bird Count have uncovered critical information for bird conservation. Counts will take place through January 5th, and it's free to participate. Learn more, and find a count near you! 

Our Ecological Atlas of the Bering, Chukchi, and Beaufort Seas is always close at hand for Captain Ed Page and Information Specialist Leo DeMeo (pictured) of the Marine Exchange of Alaska.  

The Marine Exchange of Alaska runs a real-time vessel GPS system that keeps track of where all vessels in Alaska waters are. If a given vessel is going somewhere where it's not supposed to be, the Command Center notifies the vessel's captain and recommends alternate routes.

They have our Atlas on the main table, ready to go, so that if an emergency comes up, they can immediately flip through it to quickly find what biological/ecological values might be at risk.

Northern Pygmy Owl. USFS Photo by Ben Limle
Alaska Senator Lisa Murkowski recently introduced a rider that would erase the 2016 Tongass Land Management Plan amendment and replace it with the old 2008 plan.  While the 2016 TLMP amendment had flaws, it kept the momentum moving toward ending old-growth clearcut logging on the Tongass National Forest. 

Audubon Alaska board member, John Schoen, wrote about this issue in an op-ed in the Anchorage Daily News. Read it here.
THANK YOU! Despite all of the conservation challenges we faced in 2017, the support we received was incredible. We're looking forward to continuing to fight on behalf of Alaska's birds, other wildlife, and public lands in 2018. 

It's not too late for year-end giving! Consider a donation today. thamkyou
'Name that Bird' Photo Quiz quiz2
Photo by Matthew Hansen


Photo by John Schoen
Last Month's  Quiz Bird

This Month's Quiz Bird
Last month's quiz bird was a Marbled Godwit. These birds breed  mostly on northern Great Plains, but localized populations also nest on tundra at James Bay, Ontario and on the Alaska Peninsula. 

Some populations of this bird on the Pacific Coast are permanent residents; those from northern and mountain regions are strongly migratory. They mostly migrate at night.