2009 LOS SPRING MEETING

Spring in Louisiana, birds migrating, coastal beaches, coastal woodlands, what else could we possibly ask for? How about the fact that LOS will hold its spring meeting in conjunction with the Grand Isle Migratory Bird Festival! Check out the festival at http://www.grandisle.btnep.org which runs from April 16-19. Make your room reservations early and plan to see plenty of birds and pass a good time!

Friday, April 17

6:00 P.M. Registration will be at the Grand Isle Community Center. Snacks will be provided.

7:00 P.M. Meeting and Evening Program "The Albatross: International Conservation Challenge" presented by Robin Doughty. Robin teaches at the University of Texas in Austin. He has written a number of books on birds and bird conservation. His most recent interest explores the global dimensions of seabird conservation through a study of one of the most endangered yet culturally interesting groups - the albatrosses. As birds of the ocean commons, albatrosses are biologically and behaviorally maladjusted to cope with industrial fishers that have expanded into the Southern Ocean, home for most of the twenty or so recognized species. Robin describes how birds become the incidental targets of fishing practices and discusses efforts to conserve and rehabilitate populations threatened by deep water fleets that operate outside the jurisdiction of national sovereignty and conventional oversight.

Saturday, April 18

7:30 A.M. Field trip led by Ed Wallace, meet in the Sureway Grocery parking lot.

6:00 P.M. Registration in the Grand Isle Community Center.

6:30 P.M. Dinner prepared by the ladies of Grand Isle, $20.

7:30 P.M. Meeting and Evening Program "The Louisiana Coast: Worth Seeing, Worth Saving, Worth Celebrating" by Gay Gomez. Gay, a native New Orleanian, currently serves as Associate Professor of Geography at McNeese State University in Lake Charles. A longtime birder and naturalist, she has served on the board of directors for the Coalition to Restore Coastal Louisiana and the Louisiana Ornithological Society and on the advisory board for the Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries White Lake Wetland Conservation Area. She will take us on a geographical journey through the Deltaic Plain and Chenier Plain coastal regions, featuring highlights from Gay's recently-published book, _{The Louisiana Coast: Guide to an American Wetland}. We will explore the two regions formation, similarities and differences, physical and cultural value, and efforts to stem the tide of coastal land loss. Gay will have her book available for purchase.

Accommodations:

Grand Isle Tourist Commission
985-787-2997
http://www.grand-isle.com/lodging.htm

Lafourche Parish Tourist Commission
877-537-5800
http://www.visitlafourche.com/accomodations.php

Pre-registration Form
LOS 2009 Spring Meeting April 17-18
Grand Isle, Louisiana