About Us | Wild River Audubon Society

About Wild River Audubon

Wild River Audubon programs and activities are made possible through the dedication and generosity of our members. We invite you to join us and share in our ongoing efforts to foster, protect and preserve our natural world.

Members have the option of only joining the Wild River Chapter, or of becoming a member of National Audubon, as well, one of the most effective environmental organizations in the world.

National Audubon Society Membership benefits include:

The Current, our online newsletter which keeps members up to date on local environmental issues as well as ongoing local Audubon activities is sent to those members who provide an email address.
A one year subscription to Audubon the award-winning magazine of National Audubon Society (if also joining NAS).
Admission to Audubon Centers nationwide.
An opportunity to share in local Audubon activities, as well as environmental awareness and stewardship issues.

There is the heaven we enter through institutional grace and there are the yellow finches bathing and singing in the puddle.

Mary Oliver

(1935-2019)

Wild River Audubon Chapter Committees

Education

The Wild River Audubon education committee is our link to the local area K-12 public and private schools. Since 1993, Wild River Audubon has sponsored Audubon Adventures, an environmental education program for 4th, 5th, and 6th graders.

Each spring, Wild River Audubon offers several bird identification walks at local parks, teaching participants how to use field guides and recognize native birds.

Programs

The Wild River Audubon programs committee provides community outreach by partnering with local park boards and other organizations to bring outdoor experiences and awareness to people of all ages. We offer programs on topics such as monarch butterflies, prairie restoration, as well as birding activities and projects such as construction of bluebird and bat houses.

We sponsor annual activities such as an Adopt-A-Highway program, Christmas Bird Count, a fall bird seed sale. Meetings are held throughout the year and often include an activity. All meetings are open to the public.

Conservation

The Wild River Audubon conservation committee works on environmental issues such as wetland preservation, forestry, endangered species protection while following local events as well as state and federal legislation. Activities are in cooperation with the National and Minnesota Audubon Societies and examples include:

letter writing campaigns,
calls to legislators and others about important environmental bills or other issues,
presentations to raise awareness at local events or legislative groups.

Past advocacy work includes:

Locally, Wild River Audubon joined with the Chisago County Board of Commissioners, and won an important victory over a large grocery store chain whose proposed development would have destroyed a large wetland at the headwaters of the Sunrise River.
Regionally, Wild River Audubon opposed a MnDOT proposal to build a truck climbing lane on Highway 8, out of Taylors Falls that would have adversely affected Minnesota Interstate State Park.