[wisb] Re: Horicon closed
- From: Tom Sykes <sykes@xxxxxxxxxx>
- To: cgiamati@xxxxxxxxx, "wisbirdn@xxxxxxxxxxxxx Network" <wisbirdn@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- Date: Wed, 2 Oct 2013 10:59:54 -0400
A somewhat personal birding perspective from where we are currently sitting on
the Outer Banks of North Carolina concerning the shutdown.
On Saturday we met a couple who are volunteers at Pea Island National Wildlife
Refuge. Since the shutdown, Pea Island NWR, as well as all beach access via the
Hatteras National Seashore, the Wright Brothers National Memorial, plus several
other national sites on the OBX have been shuttered. Fortunately for us we were
able to bird most of the sites before they were closed. Not much in the way of
migrating song birds but that was in great part due to several days of high
winds. The birds may have been here but were hunkered down and out of sight.
As far as the shutdown impacting us directly, we're slated to volunteer at Lake
Woodruff National Wildlife Refuge in Florida starting November 1. We've been
told that all refuge managers are not allowed to check or respond to emails
during the shutdown and all websites and electronic communications have ceased.
This explains why our emails to Lake Woodruff have gone unanswered.
Our commitment to Florida doesn't just end with our volunteer positions. Based
on past negotiations for time off with the Florida refuge manager, we had
purchased airline tickets to fly out of Florida in December to Colorado as well
as to Ecuador in February. We really do need to be in Florida near our
departing airport (which our work at the NWR would have afforded us). Altering
airline tickets would be a very expensive proposition for us should be have to
go elsewhere.
As for the plight of the couple at Pea Island who have volunteered in exchange
for their RV site: "We are allowed to stay on our site, I'm guessing this is
because we're not at a NPS campground and don't require anyone to manage the
space. We are however "furloughed" from volunteering. Which means we're not
allowed to do any volunteer work on the refuge and have been asked that we stay
off the refuge as it is closed to the public."
We're due to leave the Outer Banks on Thursday (we're in a private campground
thank goodness). We had made a reservation at Croatan National Forest, North
Carolina for Thursday night. However, all campers have been asked to vacate all
NPS campsites by Thursday which does not bode well for us. We have no idea how
they will deal with missed bookings and refunds because the according to the
Forest Service web site, most North Carolina National Forest services are now
closed along with the www.recreation.gov reservation system web site.
In the meantime, we continue to bird some of the public access beaches although
much of the prime birding areas are closed for now. On Sunday we took a very
bumpy Brian Patteson pelagic trip 27 miles out to the Gulf Stream. Great looks
at Cory's, Great, and Audubon's Shearwaters, Black-capped Petrels, and Wilson's
Storm-Petrel. Oh, and yes, there was a Jaeger - a Pomarine, so we didn't feel
too terribly bad for missing this year's excellent Jaegerfest!
Tom and Carol Sykes
sykes@xxxxxxxxxx
tomandcarolsykes.blogspot.com
(currently in Waves, NC)
On Oct 2, 2013, at 8:43 AM, claudia giamati <cgiamati@xxxxxxxxx> wrote:
> Here is a quote from a lady who works at a NWR in Minnesota... I thought she
> displayed a good attitude, even though she is on furlough"As most of you
> already know, national wildlife refuges are closed to visitors during the
> government shut down. This includes hiking trails and wildlife drives, as
> well as hunting, fishing, and all forms of recreation. The good news is, the
> birds don't know and don't care. And the lands and waters are still
> available for them to use, even if this is not the case for us."
>
> Claudia Giamati
> Chippewa Falls(mailing address)
> Chippewa County
>
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> "A knowledge of the path cannot be substituted for putting one foot in front
> of the other."
>
>
> -- M. C. Richards
>
>
> ________________________________
> From: Tom Koch <helpmerhonda1@xxxxxxxxxxx>
> To: "robzeeee@xxxxxxxxx" <robzeeee@xxxxxxxxx>
> Cc: "joamazeme@xxxxxxxxx" <joamazeme@xxxxxxxxx>; Wisbirdn
> <wisbirdn@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
> Sent: Tuesday, October 1, 2013 6:25 PM
> Subject: [wisb] Re: Horicon closed
>
>
> Lisa
> Thanks for your political views in a birding group. Please refrain next time
>
> Tom Koch
> ......from my ipad
>
>> On Oct 1, 2013, at 4:58 PM, Rob Zimmer <robzeeee@xxxxxxxxx> wrote:
>>
>> Sorry, that was not my intention at all. I was just trying to warn people
>> that it was closed. And in my anger of driving an hour to get there at the
>> crack of dawn, and only being able to enjoy 15 minutes before being kicked
>> out, I inadvertently let out that little slip. Sorry !
>> *
>> *
>> *Rob
>> *
>>> On Tuesday, October 1, 2013, Lisa Herrmann wrote:
>>> Does this post reflect the general sentiment of this group? Because I
>>> believe this state has less interest in protecting our environment than
>>> even the Feds and that they do not have a balanced budget. So, if this is a
>>> political group, I'll excuse myself. I thought this was a birding group.
>>> -----Original Message-----
>>> From: Rob Zimmer <robzeeee@xxxxxxxxx <javascript:;>>
>>> Sender: wisbirdn-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx <javascript:;>
>>> Date: Tue, 1 Oct 2013 07:23:36
>>> To: Wisbirdn<wisbirdn@xxxxxxxxxxxxx <javascript:;>>
>>> Reply-To: robzeeee@xxxxxxxxx <javascript:;>
>>> Subject: [wisb] Horicon closed
>>>
>>> I am at Horicon right now, and they are indeed closing all of the gates and
>>> kicking people out. Guess we will have to enjoy the southern half of the
>>> marsh, run by our beautiful state of Wisconsin, who knows how to pass a
>>> budget!
>>>
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>>
>>
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