Jeff and all,
The decision whether or not to cancel individual CBCs is the responsibility of
the compilers (and in some cases, the sponsoring organizations such as local
Audubons). I trust that the people responsible for each count are taking
careful consideration of the local circumstances.
I shared my reasons for cancelling the Antone CBC, primarily the risk of
outside participants bringing the virus to remote rural communities with
limited medical resources. Hart Mountain has similarly been canceled because of
risk to USFWS staff who live and work in remote locations.
Other counts that rely mainly on local participants will be going ahead (for
example, Cottage Grove, Burns, John Day, and Silverton) though with precautions
to limit the risk, following the guidance from National Audubon. These
precautions were publicized widely last month, in a message from National
Audubon to all compilers. Perhaps you missed them, but the guidelines do follow
common sense and public health guidelines, very much in line with your
suggestions here (limiting teams to members of a single households, avoiding
in-person compilation meetings, etc.).
So again, please understand that Oregon's local CBC compilers are all
approaching this with a view toward sensible precautions, and considering the
particular situation for their counts. I will also ask you and others, who are
not in positions of responsibility, to please respect and support their
carefully considered decisions. No one is eager to cancel these counts that we
all look forward to.
All the best,
Joel
--
Joel Geier
Regional CBC editor for Oregon & Nevada
