Audubon Society supports killing of Point Reyes Deer, angers members.

June 4, 2007 on 2:43 pm | In Sonoma County Wildlife | 6 Comments

Greetings Birders!
If you’re like me, you’ve always been a big fan of the Audubon Society. They’ve been around forever, they publish beautiful bird guides, and they have terrific local chapters across the U.S. The Audubon Society depends on members’ dues and donations in order to publish their magazine, fund their conservation projects and maintain their standing as America’s most famous and popular birding organization.

Unfortunately, the Audubon Society is rapidly losing member support here in the San Francisco Bay Area of California because of a decision made at an official, Marin Chapter Audubon Society level about a local issue which local people feel very strongly about.

Here are the basic facts:

• For generations, the citizens of Marin County have benefited from the presence of the small herd of beautiful Fallow and Axis Deer that were brought by humans to the Point Reyes National Seashore in the 1950’s.
• The National Park Service will begin killing the deer this summer of 2007 via methods that include gunning down from helicopters, hunting with dogs and beating and stabbing the deer to death.
• The National Park Service claims that the deer are harming the environment and threatening the Black-tailed Deer that also live in the park.
• The National Park Service has refused to spend the time to actually study whatever effects the Fallow and Axis deer may be having on the ecology. They do not have any figures for how many Black-tailed Deer live in the park, nor how many lived there 50 years ago. Rather than study the animals and act as the good stewards of the land they are employed to be, they simply want to kill the Fallow and Axis Deer.
• Officials at the Marin Chapter level of the Audubon Society have announced that they support the inhumane, hurried killing of the Fallow and Axis deer. Local members of the regional chapter are in disagreement about the position the board of the Marin chapter has taken and have voiced their lack of support for this policy.
• The Marin Humane Society, In Defense of Animals, WildCare and Dr. Jane Goodall have all pleaded with the NPS to adopt a policy of humane management, not extermination of these deer which are so highly valued by local citizens and the 2.5 million visitors that come to the Point Reyes National Seashore annually.
• The people of West Marin have created a group called Friends of the White Deer. Their efforts have included gathering thousands of signatures, holding meetings with the Park officials and posting signs all over their villages asking for humane management of the deer.
• The NPS and the conservation committee of the Marin Audubon society is refusing to listen to the needs and wishes of local people, and the killing is set to begin this summer.

It is my belief that the National Audubon Society and all of its chapters should take the position of protecting and cherishing life, not destroying it. If the size of the Fallow and Axis deer population needs to be managed, it can be done with humane contraceptive dart technology. The NPS is authorized to do this, and already practices humane management with the Tule Elk that also live in the park.

I am offended that the Marin Audubon Society, a group I have always respected, has so far ignored the position of the highly-educated local members and the people of West Marin who have lived with these deer for half a century. The Marin Audubon Society should listen to the wisdom of its local members who love and know their regional environments, and who do not support the committee’s desire to see the deer inhumanely slaughtered. The Audubon Society only exists because of the support of local people across the land, and our words should be important to them.

*Editorial correction: It was my initial understanding of this case that support of killing the Fallow and Axis Deer of Point Reyes had been given by the Audubon Society at a national level. Thanks to Glenn Olson, Executive Director of Audubon California and Graham Chisholm, Director of Conservation & Deputy State Director, Audubon California (see comment below), I have been able to clarify that neither the national nor state level Audubon Society has taken an official position on the slaying of the deer.

I have also had the opportunity of speaking with Barbara Salzman, President of the Marin Audubon Society. She confirmed for me that the position announced in support of killing the deer was taken at a local chapter level, not a national or state one. According to Ms. Salzman, this position is not the result of a vote amongst the members of the local chapter, but rather the result of discussion amongst the conservation committee. Ms. Salzman indicated to me that if they had to take the view of all the members into account, they would never be able to reach an official decision.

It is little wonder, then, that Marin Audubon Society members are upset by the committee’s stance. In the words of member Jeanne Emmons Cohn of San Rafael,

“Environmental groups are being lobbied to go along with these deer killings. I implore commissioners to look into alternatives that would prevent annihilation of the whole group of deer.”

In light of the fact that the official position of the Marin Audubon Society is based merely on the decision of their committee, rather than on a democratic vote of their members, I believe it is all the more imperative for dissenting members to speak up and withdraw their support from a group that is not ethically aligned with their own beliefs about the humane treatment of animals.

What you can do
Visit Friends of the White deer at www.fotwd.org to read further about this issue.

If you fund your local Audubon Society chapter, begin a discussion with other members about the inappropriateness of this organization becoming a supporter of inhumane species extermination.

Consider withdrawing your membership and funding from your local Audubon Chapter, and send them a letter explaining that you are doing so because the Marin Audubon Society has ignored local citizens’ request for humane management, not extermination.

If you donate to the National Audubon Society, consider writing to them to explain that you will not be continuing your financial sponsorship of their society because the local chapter of the Marin Audubon Society is supporting species extermination and ignoring local members’ needs.

Please consider writing or emailing the following:

National Audubon Society:
MAIN OFFICE:
National Audubon Society
700 Broadway
New York, NY 10003
Phone: (212) 979-3000
Fax: (212) 979-3188
email: donations@audubon.org

Audubon California
711 University Avenue
Sacramento, CA 95825
916-649-7600
Fax 916-649-7667
Glenn Olson, Executive Director
email: golson@audubon.org

Madrone Audubon Society
PO Box 1911
Santa Rosa, CA 95402
707-546-7492
Sylvan Eidelman, President
email: sylvan_lee@yahoo.com

Napa-Solano Audubon Society
PO Box 5027
Vallejo, CA 94591
Cheryl Harris, President
email: cheryleharris@sbcglobal.net

Marin Audubon Society
48 Ardmore Rd
Larkspur, CA 94939
415-924-6057
Barbara Salzman, President
email: bsalzman@worldnet.att.net

In Conclusion
My husband and I have spent hours amongst these rare and beautiful deer and have come to love them. Our joy in birding, and the reason we run Birding Sonoma County, is founded in a deep love of the natural world and a respect for all life. We are ashamed to see the Marin Audubon Society officially supporting violence and respectfully request that they remember that the society exists because of the interest and activities of citizens at a local level. We believe that the people in the committee which makes policies for the Marin Audubon Society should be guided by a democratic poll of its local members’ positions, not by the decision of a chosen few, and that the tremendous local outcry against the slaying of the deer should be taken into account by any local wildlife-oriented society.