iBb ~ My Time at Hawk Mountain Sanctuary

Mary Elizabeth Short

Oley Valley Middle SchoolTeacher of the Gifted Education Program

Rosalie Edge, a woman way

before her time, learned what was happening to the wildlife and felt that this ‘sport’ was not to be

tolerated.

Starting in 1929, Rosalie worked to bring public awareness to the situation, but it wasn’t until 1934 that she was able to lease the land along the Blue Mountain Kittatinny Ridge and set up the world’s first refuge for birds of prey.

Hawk Mountain Sanctuary has always been a private organization and today is not only the oldest, but

also the largest member-supported raptor conservation organization in the world.

HAWK MOUNTAIN SANCTUARY’SMISSION STATEMENT

Conserve birds of prey worldwide by providing leadership in raptor conservation science and education, and by maintaining Hawk Mountain Sanctuary as a model observation, research, and education facility.

MISSION

FACILITY

EDU

CATIO

N

RESEAR

CH

FACILITY

• Hawk Mountain Sanctuary encompasses 2600 acres along the Blue Mountain Ridge straddling Berks and Schuylkill Counties.

• There are 8 miles of trails, several mountaintop lookouts, and geological formations, such as the River of Rocks.

• The Visitor Center includes educational exhibits, a bookstore, and additional wildlife viewing areas.

• 65,000 people visit Hawk Mountain Sanctuary every year.

• 75% visit during October, November, and December. (The months with the largest concentration of migrating birds)

Education

Education• Educational tours, demonstrations,

and classes provided to the public, including school groups.

• Partnered with several school districts to provide an outreach program, The Raptor Challenge, where the staff members work with the teachers, visit the school to teach classes on raptors, and the students have a follow-up field trip to the sanctuary. Students in grades 3 and 5 participate in the program.

• Partnered with Cedar Crest College providing courses in environmental literacy, biology, and birds of prey.

• Internships available to students all over the world to participate in research and fieldwork working at the Acopian Center.

RESEARCH

Acopian

Center

Internists

ScientistsCollecting data on turkey vultures…

ScientistsCollecting data on turkey vultures…

and on kestrels,

and of course, the migration and well-being of all our birds of prey!

Species +

Aug.15-30

Sept1-14

Sept.15-30

Oct1-14

Oct.15-31

Nov1-14

Nov.15-30

Dec1-14

Osprey 57 87 89 73 29 4 1 <1

Bald Eagle 40 52 30 14 10 15 18 17

Northern Harrier 49 76 79 83 86 77 42 21

Sharp-shinned Hawk 41 84 98 98 96 79 41 11

Cooper's Hawk 12 32 66 85 72 45 17 13

Goshawk 2 2 7 20 36 46 50 33

Red-shouldered Hawk 3 6 18 63 83 73 45 15

Broad-winged Hawk 87 94 94 42 4 <1 <<1 0

Red-tailed Hawk 39 51 66 88 96 96 88 79

Rough-legged Hawk 0 0 0 3 12 21 18 21

Golden Eagle 0 3 10 27 45 50 42 26

American Kestrel 68 77 77 74 40 8 1 0

Merlin 3 8 20 42 28 5 1 <1

Peregrine Falcon 4 10 22 44 19 6 3 <1

# of Poss. species 12 13 13 14 14 14 14 12

Each number represents a percent probability based on sixty years of data.

International Connections

• The raptor route that passes Hawk Mountain Sanctuary joins a larger migration highway stretching as far as Central and South America. To protect hawk passage along the length of this and other flyways, the Sanctuary developed Hawks Aloft Worldwide, an international initiative that replicates the Sanctuary’s successful, ecotourism-based conservation model in other parts of the world. Hawks Aloft Worldwide has identified more than 380 globally significant watchsites.

• In 1991, Hawk Mountain worked with Mexican conservation partner Pronatura Veracruz to establish the first, million-bird watchsite in Latin America. In 2000, they did the same with Asociasion ANAI in Costa Rica, and a second, million-bird migration site was born at the Kekoldi Indiginous Reserve.

Technology

The Hawk Mountain Visitor Center does not use more than the common computer and internet for its daily functions at this time. Although there are plans in the works to refurbish and add on to the existing building and include virtual experiences with raptors inside.

The Acopian Center on the other hand has a great deal of new technology being used in the creation of new devices to transmit information; the connections to the other migration sites in Central and South America; the satellite usage; collection and recording of data, creating and running computer programs to interpret and categorize the data.

Staff

17 full time and 3 part time personnel members Full time: President Director of Development & Communications Communications & Grants Manager Membership & Annual Fund Specialist Business Manager Development Specialist Education Specialist Director of Volunteers Bookstore manager and the conservation science staff at the Acopian Center

There are 225 volunteers.

Educational Backgrounds

All of the positions are held by members with some form of post-secondary schooling.

Most of the positions require a college degree, at least at a bachelor’s level.

The staff members at the Sanctuary hold degrees in business, English/journalism, parks and recreation, communication, public relations, outdoor management.

The scientists at the Acopian Center hold degrees in the sciences (ecology, ornithology, biology).

Skills

In addition to the specialty skills needed to perform the job that any staff member was hired for, the most important skill needed is the ability to work as a team.

Being able to listen, share ideas and comments constructively, be flexible and fill in where needed are all necessary to working together as a team.

According to the president, Mr. Lee Schisler, the people who work at the Hawk Mtn Sanctuary are part of its greatest asset.

The other part is having a well-defined mission statement and strategic plan.

Salaries

All staff members stated that they gave up the corporate-sized incomes when they gave up working in the corporate world.

The trade was for the working environment, a belief in the mission, and for some, the location.

The president stated that in hiring staff, he would look to offer competitive salaries based on comparable positions.

Non-profit Organization!

Hawk Mountain Sanctuary has an annual budget of approximately $1.7 million dollars.

So where does the money come from?

This is the sanctuary’s greatest challenge ~ FUNDING!

FundingHawk Mountain is a private organization not a state or

national park.

FundingHawk Mountain is a private organization not a state or

national park.

1st ~ Membership fees – 40% of funding There are currently 9,000 members.

2nd ~ Grants – state, federal, private foundations

3rd ~ Program fees, book store revenue, admission fees, corporate sponsorship

My Turn!

Celeste Voyer, my mentor during this internship, provided me with quite a memorable week.

I had the opportunity to hike and picnic on the top of the mountain one of the days.

I interviewed the staff members and took a great deal of notes on their different educational and career backgrounds.

I was able to view the few birds of prey housed at the Sanctuary that are used for educational programs and demonstrations.

I had the opportunity to collect data on the turkey vultures and check on some kestrel boxes while visiting the Acopian Center.

One of the things that I learned during my time at Hawk Mountain was the problem India is having at this time with a decrease in the vulture population.