_____ From: Diana Teta [mailto:[email protected]] Sent: Monday, January 18, 2010 3:13 PM To: 'Andrew Block' Subject: RE: [nysbirds-l] about SGNWR regs/he was a volunteer
The person was a volunteer at the grasslands as I spoke to him as he was leaving the grasslands. He showed me his identification and id numbers that indicated he was a volunteer. He stated he used his own vehicle b/c his truck was large enough for all his photography equipment. I said the vehicle should have an identifiying seal even if was a magnetic one. However he had the id on him plus a USFW hat. I said he could cause ill will among birders by him just driving around without identifying himself or other volunteers. He said his role was to monitor the grasslands and the wildlife as well as the people on the grasslands. If I recall the conversation he said birders and others gave him a hard time when he suggested not flushing the owls or approaching too closely. He did say "something or someone did flush the owls early on Saturday. Diana teta Long island, ny _____ From: [email protected] [mailto:[email protected]] On Behalf Of Andrew Block Sent: Monday, January 18, 2010 10:56 AM To: NY Birds List Subject: [nysbirds-l] about SGNWR regs I worked for two summers for Wallkill River NWR which oversees the Shawangunk Grasslands NWR and several times I saw illegal activity happening while doing work up at SG. Unless rules have changed there are no vehicles allowed in the refuge except for refuge vehicles. They do not give keys to the public unless they are volunteers, which i highly doubt this person was. Unfortunately they are not able to patrol the refuge as much as they'd like because of the distance between the two. What i would recommend doing is for birders to take down license plate numbers and to contact the refuge manager with the plate number and hopefully they can do something about it. This is what I do anytime I see something illegal. Andrew Andrew v. F. Block Consulting Field Biologist & Eco-tour Leader 37 Tanglewylde Avenue Bronxville, Westchester Co., New York 10708-3131 Phone: (914) 337-1229; Cell: (914) 886-5124; Fax: (914) 771-8036 "When the last individual of a race of living things breathes no more, another heaven and another earth must pass before such a one can be again..." - William Beebe, first Curator of Birds, Bronx Zoo "Crikey! Have a look at that!" - Steve Irwin, The Crocodile Hunter "Just like the white winged dove sings a song, sounds like she's singing whoo, baby...whoo...said whoo" - Stephanie L. Nicks, Edge of 17, Bella Donna -- NYSbirds-L List Info: http://www.NortheastBirding.com/NYSbirdsWELCOME http://www.NortheastBirding.com/NYSbirdsRULES ARCHIVES: 1) http://www.mail-archive.com/[email protected]/maillist.html 2) http://birdingonthe.net/mailinglists/NYSB.html 3) http://www.surfbirds.com/birdingmail/Group/NYSBirds-L Please submit your observations to eBird: http://ebird.org/content/ebird/ --
