A news release on this year's MOU Savaloja Grants is going out to 347 newspaper outlets, 120 radio stations and 20 TV stations tomorrow. This is something we've not tried before, so we're interested in assessing whether the effort was worthwhile. You can help by letting me know if you see or hear any news item about the Savaloja Grants. Please include the date, media outlet, and if possible, web link for any items you come across.
We were able to support some wonderful projects this year. Following is an item about them that will appear in the MOU Newsletter. Steve Wilson MOU Savaloja Committee Chair Savaloja Grants, 2014 Terry Savaloja was a well-known, respected Minnesota birder and TS Roberts Award recipient who died in 1992. The Savaloja Memorial Fund was established to support projects that increase our understanding of birds, promote preservation of birds and their natural habitats, or increase public interest in birds. Every February the MOU Savaloja Committee sifts through submitted proposals and forwards the most compelling to the MOU Board for consideration. At their March 16, 2014 meeting the MOU Board awarded grants, totaling a record $11,192, to five exceptional projects. They are: Audubon Chapter of Minneapolis, Red-headed Woodpecker Recovery Committee (Jerry Bahls). Those who saw this group’s presentation at last fall’s annual meeting will appreciate the wealth of new information coming out of this study of one of Minnesota’s fastest-declining species. The recovery committee was awarded $1200 to hire a technician to study Red- headed Woodpeckers at Cedar Creek Ecosystem Science Reserve, one of the remaining strongholds for this imperiled species.. Bena High School (Charles Grolla). This innovative project received $4383 for production of a booklet of common birds in northern Minnesota. The booklet will use the Ojibwe bird names and will include stories and legends gleaned from community elders that describe these birds and their cultural associations. Harambee Elementary School, Maplewood (Jenny Eckman). This school was awarded $3815 to expand a promising pilot program into a year-long program for second graders. The coursework will use birds as an integrating theme between different disciplines normally considered in isolation. The grant will help pay for the binoculars, bird ID and activity guides, field trips and teacher training needed to expand the program. One reason this project is so exciting is the potential for this approach to be replicated in schools across the state. Minnesota River Valley Audubon Chapter, Bloomington (Matthew Schaut, President). MRVAC was awarded $594 to continue their goal of increasing the birding capacity of local nature centers, this time through donation of binoculars to the Starling Lake Nature Center. Through the magic of matching, MOU’s donation of six binoculars was doubled by MRVAC, and doubled again by Eagle Optics, for a total of 24 pairs of binoculars. Willmar Public Schools (Randy Fredrickson). $1200 was awarded to purchase geolocators. The data gleaned from attaching the geolocators to wild Purple Martins will help researchers identify roost sites, migration routes, over-wintering sites and collect longevity data for this declining species. Several of the above projects do double duty, helping birds while also diversifying Minnesota’s birding community by recruiting or involving minorities and people of color. These groups are currently underrepresented among Minnesota birders, and are projected to grow from 9% of Minnesota’s population in 2000 to 16% by 2030. Unless minorities become more involved in birding, the proportion of the population that cares about birds and their habitats will shrink. Encouraging their participation in birding will reverse this trend, and help keep MOU strong and better able to speak for all Minnesotans on bird- related issues. This initiative was possible, in part, through a special $3000 donation received last year. Look for details in the next newsletter about a challenge grant that will give you an opportunity to participate in expanding the Savaloja grant program. Savaloja Grants, 2015--Individuals or organizations who are undertaking projects in Minnesota like these may submit grant applications to the MOU for the 2015 grant cycle. Application information may be obtained by emailing: gra...@moumn.org. The deadline for receipt of grant applications is January 31, 2015. ---- Join or Leave mou-net: http://lists.umn.edu/cgi-bin/wa?SUBED1=mou-net Archives: http://lists.umn.edu/archives/mou-net.html