You are invited to take part in the 13th annual Great Backyard Bird Count, Friday, February 12, through Monday, February 15, 2010. Anyone can take part in the Great Backyard Bird Count, from novice bird watchers to experts. Participants count birds in their backyard, a local park, or school for as little as 15 minutes (or as long as they wish) on one or more days of the event and report their sightings online at www.birdcount.org.

CLICK HERE for more information.

Voices of the Valley will launch at 7:00 p.m. on Wednesday, February 10th, 2010 at the Platte Valley Community Center (PVCC). The series will continue to run every second and fourth Wednesday of each month from February 10th to June 23rd and will provide a forum for community members to learn about and discuss issues important to the present and future of Saratoga, Encampment, Riverside, and the North Platte Valley. For more information CLICK HERE.

The National Audubon Society and the Vail Symposium Invites you to Vail for a special presentation by Audubon Wyoming's Executive Director Brian Rutledge. The presentation is titled: Audubon's Role in the challenging world of Sagebrush conservation. For more information CLICK HERE.

An announcement from BLM (Bureau of Land Management) offers hope for Greater Sage-Grouse, plus an innovative stakeholder-based model to advance wildlife-friendly energy development. Find out more here.

Traveling trunks are a great resource for teachers. Developed with different grade levels in mind, our trunks include a Sagebrush Exploration, Ocean Habitats, Tracking, Traces and Scat, and Project Puffin. Contact Dusty Downey at (307) 756-3941 or via email for more information.

Click Here for a  collection of  personal stories of Wyomingites – stories that put a human face on the issues, the challenges and opportunities to balance Wyoming’s need for growth with key conservation values.  Please take a moment to read about these Wyoming leaders, and neighbors, who are just a few examples of the strength and diversity that makes Wyoming great."

Nearly 60% of the 305 species found in North America in winter are on the move, shifting their ranges northward by an average of 35 miles. Audubon scientists analyzed 40 years of citizen-science Christmas Bird Count data — and their findings provide new and powerful evidence that global warming is having a serious impact on natural systems.

To learn more about the state of Wyoming's birds click here, or to learn more about National Trends, click here.

Audubon Wyoming's Senior Ecologist, Kevin Doherty, just released his dissertation titled:

Sage-Grouse and Energy Development:
Integrating Science with Conservation Planning to Reduce Impacts

Click here for full document.

© Rob Fergus

Find out how to create and sustain a healthy environment on your rural property.

Interested in attending a workshop for property owners in Wyoming? Contact Jacelyn Downey, Northeast Community Naturalist via email or (307)756-3941.

By participating in the first annual Pennies for the Planet you helped to support global conservation efforts. You proved that kids can collect, earn, save, and send in pennies to support conservation projects and local education efforts in target ecoregions. Help again this year with all new target regions. Every penny raised by kids will go directly to field projects and local education efforts that protect these ecoregions and their critical species, habitats, and ecosystems. Click here to learn about the project and see what happened as a result of your efforts.

For more information, visit http://www.togethergreen.org/p4p, or contact Jacelyn Downey @ (307) 756-3941 / email.

This years BioBlitz will once again bring together educators, volunteers, and scientists from various organizations and agencies in a race against time to see how many species they can count in a 24-hour biological survey. This years Bioblitz will be near Saratoga on June 18-20th. For more information CLICK HERE or contact Alison Holloran @ (307) 745-4848.