Last Chance Audubon Society

Ben Deeble, National Wildlife Federation biologist and founder of “Adopt-a-Lek,” will discuss his sage-grouse monitoring program Tuesday, February 20th, at 7:00 p.m. in the L&C Library large meeting room. The event is sponsored by the Last Chance Audubon Society and is free and open to the public.

Once very abundant, sage-grouse across the West declined throughout the 20th century to critical levels. In 2000, the bird was proposed for listing under the federal Endangered Species Act, triggering a wide range of conservation concerns and actions. Ben’s citizen science program, dubbed “Adopt-a-Lek,” has improved monitoring of sage-grouse populations throughout Montana.

Ben has engaged in sage-grouse research and conservation since 1993. Please join us for a unique presentation on the natural history and conservation challenges facing sage-grouse in Montana.

Our January 2007 Newsletter was mailed to LCAS members and is available online and in print at several locations throughout Helena.

Greg Neudecker, U.S. Fish and Wildlife biologist and Vice Chairman of the Blackfoot Challenge, will present “Return of Trumpeter Swans to the Blackfoot Valley” this Tuesday, January 16th, at 7:00 p.m. in the L&C Library large meeting room. The event is sponsored by the Last Chance Audubon Society and is free and open to the public.

Greg is a wildlife biologist for the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service’s Partners for Fish and Wildlife Program in Montana, a private lands habitat restoration and protection program. Greg coordinates activities in the Blackfoot Watershed, one of eight focus areas for the Partners Program in Montana.

Greg is also the Vice Chairman of the Blackfoot Challenge, a landowner-based nonprofit organization in the Blackfoot River Watershed. Greg chairs the Wildlife Committee working on human/grizzly bear interactions and trumpeter swan reintroductions.