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Annual Report2023Photo: Sherrie TuckerMaine Audubon works to conserve Maine’s wildlife and wildlife habitat by engaging people of all ages in education, conservation, and action.
Milestones & Celebrationsn 2023, we celebrated a few very special anniversaries, which provided us with a great opportunity to reect on how far we’ve come, and what we aspire to in the future. July marked the 40th year of our Annual Loon Count and in August, the Fields Pond Audubon Center turned 25. Maine Audubon’s long and rich history gives us a unique perspective on what it takes to protect wildlife and habitat. We know one thing for sure: we can’t do it without you. Our community of supporters and volunteers continues to grow. With our eight public centers and sanctuaries across the state, seven chapters, and 30,000 members, volunteers, and supporters, we connect with more than 250,000 people annually.IA few highlights from 2023: Our annual Native Plants Festival and Sale, held during a June downpour, was an overwhelming success as record num-bers of plant-lovers came and purchased more than 3,000 herbaceous perennials, shrubs, and trees. We were also ex-cited to get more native plants in the landscape through community based proj-ects. Two of our favorites in 2023: At Acadia Na-tional Park, we worked with Schoodic Institute and sold 500 plants for Acadia’s Great Meadow, as we begin to practice more large-scale conservation horticulture projects in Maine. We worked with the City of South Portland on habitat restoration at Hinckley Park and Willard Beach, as well as on the 100 Resil-ient Yards project to help homeowners turn their yards into wildlife habitat.With the expansion of our Properties de-partment, we’ve been creating new oppor-tunities for volunteers to get involved in stewardship work at our sanctuaries. Volun-teer days at Fields Pond (Holden), Gilsland Farm (Falmouth), Hamilton (West Bath), Josephine Newman (Georgetown), and Mast Landing (Freeport) got people en-ergized pulling up invasive plants, doing trail maintenance, cleaning bird boxes, and more. Maine Audubon educators work with partners in schools and communities to provide young people with hands-on learning experiences around wildlife and habitat. This year saw us:• Expanding our district-wide work with Portland Public Schools to more grade levels and working across the entire 5th grade in Bangor Public Schools, as well as creating new curricula that can be used in other districts;2
• Engaging more youth in enhanced teen stewardship programs in Port-land, Lewiston, and Bangor; • Collaborating with partners such as Wabanaki Youth in Science, Maine Com-munity Integration, and Maine Association for New Americans to include diverse communities, develop new programs and integrate Indigenous Knowledge and environ-mental justice. Our Forestry for Maine Birds program has reached more than 1600 foresters, landowners, loggers, land trusts, and others with tips for how to manage wood-lands “with birds in mind.” The concept of improving breeding bird habitat, using active and passive management, is spawn-ing oshoots that include Bird-Friendly Maple (a program that encourages maple producers to manage their sugarbush with birds in mind) and Forests for Maine Fish (a program to help loggers, foresters, forest landowners, and shoreland homeowners to enhance habitat for sh and riparian wildlife).Picture a bathtub full of lead! Our Fish Lead Free initiative, designed to remove lead through tackle exchanges and buy-backs, collected 74.5 pounds of lead (an estimated total of 2700 pieces) at ice sh-ing derbies, sporting shows, and more, in 2023. The more lead we get out of circula-tion, the less lead that could pose a threat to loons. Our community science programs continue to expand and reach new audiences both in terms of geography and age. Our Stream Explorers project, to look for, identify, and count macro-invertebrates in streams to help gauge water quality, is taking o. It was a hit this year both with kindergar-teners at Children’s House Montessori in Rockport, campers at the YMCA of Au-burn-Lewiston’s Outdoor Learning and Education Center (OLEC), and Bangor High School students. In 2023, our naturalists led dozens of birding programs and native plant walks at our centers and sanctuaries as well as at other locations, including bird-ing festivals in Acadia, spring migration outings in Portland, and even a trip to Guatema-la. They also hosted dozens of online programs covering birding basics, birding by ear, and native plant studies. Our birders and naturalists educate the public by answering questions in person, online, and in the media, elding everything from “why am I seeing so few birds this fall?” to “what can I plant to attract more wildlife?”Our bi-monthly “Ask Maine Audu-bon” column in the Maine Sunday Telegram will start its fth year in 2024—that’s more than 100 columns! Photo: Andree Kehn/Sun Journal3
BIRD CONSERVATIONIn July, we celebrated the 40th year of the Annual Loon Count, with 1503 volunteers covering 374 lakes, the most lakes counted since we began in 1983. We honored regional coordinators with two special events—the coordinators do so much to make the count happen! The Loon Restoration program completed its third year with 330 participants working alongside Maine Lakes, Lakes Environmental Association, and Penobscot Nation to place and monitor 57 loon nesting rafts. This project aims to give Maine loons better chances for breeding success and reduce threats to their survival through loon nesting rafts, loon protection and outreach, and sh lead free programs.WHAT’S NEXT? In 2024, we’ll be expand-ing our Shorebird Ambassador program to help shorebirds by limiting disturbance while they are feeding or roosting during migration, and join a collaborative eort to help raise awareness about newly listed endangered Saltmarsh Sparrows.SpotlightsNORTHERN PROGRAMSWe celebrated the 25th anniversary of the Fields Pond Audubon Center in August by launching a new position to manage and expand Maine Audubon education, conservation, and advocacy programs throughout the northern part of the state. Our newly-minted Director of Northern Programs and Operations, David Lamon, will lead and support work at Fields Pond and Borestone Mountain as well as other projects across Maine’s northern counties. WHAT’S NEXT? Enhancements to the Fields Pond Audubon Center’s buildings and grounds will accommodate expanded sta, increase educational opportunities, and enhance visitor experiences. Photo: Rob True4
ADVOCACY WINS Important legislative wins for 2023 include:• A new law phasing out the sale and use of small-sized painted lead tackle, a major cause of loon mortality. Maine Audubon submitted testimony and got more than 1000 people to sign our petition in favor of the bill.• Pioneering a bird-safe architecture law. Maine Audubon led the way in helping Maine become just one of four states to address bird-glass collisions. • Strengthening the Maine Endangered Species Act (MESA). Eight species of birds, bats, and insects were added to the MESA list, and a separate new law expands the circumstances where consultation with state biologists is required before a building permit is issued. WHAT’S NEXT? The advocacy team will be working to ensure the responsible siting of renewable energy, including solar and oshore wind, and working in the Maine Legislature to protect coastal shorelines, prevent the spread of aquatic invasive species, and more.HABITAT RESTORATION Thanks to our longstanding partners at Project SHARE in Downeast Maine, with whom Maine Audubon launched the StreamSmart program, we are now involved in several multi-year revegetation and reforestation projects in the Dennys River and Narraguagus River watersheds. Restoration of Atlantic Salmon habitat can involve heavy engineering and equipment to restore natural ows and features. In these places, Maine Audubon nds prime opportunities to restore riparian habitat with native plants, and engage new partners and communities.WHAT’S NEXT? We are working with teachers at Washington Academy to revitalize their conservation horticulture program to engage students in river restoration projects. This partnership will allow us to expand our teen stewardship and other community-based education programs to Washington County and the Passamaquoddy Nation at Sipayik.5
Maine Audubon’s nancial position remained strong this scal year, with increases in earned and raised income. Our fundraising and administration expenses increased over the prior scal year because of investments in strategic organizational initiatives planned for the next three to ve years. Thanks to a larger program reach, both our operating budget and our net assets are larger than last scal year.Income and ExpensesTotal: $4,529,372.77Contributions & Grants51%InvestmentIncome32%EarnedIncome 17%INCOMEFiscal Year 2022-23May 1, 2022- April 30, 2023Total: $4,631,670.42Public Information 7%Membe rship 3%EXPENSESAdministrative19%Fundraising17%Conservation & Advocacy20%Education24%Properties10%6
ASSETS Cash $1,439,505.62 Accounts Receivable $147.79 Pledges Receivable $1,140,240.00 Grants Receivable $458,255.29 Inventory $127,626.22 Prepaids & Other Current Assets $7,080.59 Land, building, & equipment, net $1,716,853.69 Investments $16,580,245.76 Total Assets $21,469,954.96 LIABILITIES & FUND BALANCE Liabilities Total Current Liabilities $364,488.99 Total NonCurrent Liabilities $58,074.49 Total Liabilities $422,563.48 Net Assets Unrestricted Net Assets $12,948,158.46 Temp Restricted Net Assets $6,522,795.06 Permanently Restricted Net Assets $1,576,437.96 Total Fund Balance $21,047,391.48 Total Liabilities and Fund Balance $21,469,954.96 MAINE AUDUBON SOCIETYBALANCE SHEETAs of April 30, 20237
Sta DirectorsAndrew Beahm, Executive DirectorErin Evans, FinanceNoah Gleason-Hart, PropertiesFrancesca Gundrum, AdvocacyMelissa Kim, CommunicationsDavid Lamon, Northern Programs and OperationsKate Lewis, DevelopmentSally Stockwell, ConservationEric Topper, EducationCenters & SanctuariesYour wildlife community20 Gilsland Farm Road, Falmouth ME 04105207-781-2330; info@maineaudubon.orgmaineaudubon.orgEstablished 1843Ocers, Board of Trustees John R. Dollo, ChairMichael Catania, Vice ChairAlyssa Hemingway, TreasurerSean Trahan, SecretaryLeadershipBorestone Mountain Audubon Sanctuary ElliotsvilleEast Point Audubon Sanctuary Biddeford PoolFields Pond Audubon Center HoldenGilsland Farm Audubon Center FalmouthHamilton Audubon Sanctuary West BathJosephine Newman Audubon Sanctuary GeorgetownMast Landing Audubon Sanctuary FreeportScarborough Marsh Audubon Center ScarboroughWestern Maine ChapterFundyChapterDowneastChapterMidcoastChapterMerrymeetingChapterPenobscot ValleyChapterYork CountyChapterRegional Chapters