From David Anderson, Exec. Director

On Tuesday, May 1st, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service presented us with the Director's Conservation Award for our work at the Audubon Center for Birds of Prey in Maitland. The award recognizes our outstanding contributions to the recovery of the bald eagle in the southeast and across the Nation. I was honored to be there personally to accept the award on behalf of Audubon of Florida, the staff at the Center, our wonderful volunteers, and all of you who have supported the work of the Center these many years.  Katie Warner, Dianna Flynt, Lynda White, Sam Stock, and the rest of the Center staff deserve very special acknowledgement for the work they do.

The award is special for a number of reasons, the most obvious being recognition of our leadership among national rehabilitation centers for our expertise in bald eagle care, and the quality of care provided to the more than 325 injured or orphaned bald eagles we have released into the wild. But beyond that, the award singles out the 250 volunteers involved with the Center's Eagle Watch Program for their efforts to monitor more than 20 percent of Florida's bald eagle population across 37 Florida Counties. My only regret was that each and every one of these volunteers could not have been there to accept the award with me.

Please join me in extending heartfelt congratulations, and thanks, to Katie, Dianna, Lynda, Sam and the rest of the Center staff and everybody else whose tireless efforts have made the Audubon Center for Birds of Prey the preeminent facility of its kind in the Nation, and an extraordinary example of what can be accomplished by concerned and empowered grassroots volunteers.

5/3/2007