New Jersey Audubon Society

“The Society has an estimated 20,000 members.”

“The Society has members who may elect one or more members of the governing body.”

“The decisions of the governing body are subject to approval by members of the organization by a two-thirds vote of the members present and voting at the Society's annual or business meeting.”

“The Form 990 was prepared by the outside audit firm that has experience in the preparation of the form and was reviewed and approved by the executive and finance commmittees and then provided to the full board of directors.”

“Each member of the board of directors is required to sign an annual disclosure report regarding any conflicts of interest and risks of fraud within the organization.”

“the Society does not make public its by-laws which are its governing documents. the Society evaluates the by-laws on a regular basis and amends them as circumstances change. when an amendment is recommended by the board of directors, notice is given to the members that a proposed amendment will be considered at the annual or business meeting of the Society and the text of such proposed amendment will be made available in advance of the meeting upon request. The audited financial statements and the Form 990 are made available on the organization's website.”

“The executive committee of the board of directors reviews and approves the compensation of the president & ceo of the Society annually. Key elements of the process include use of benchmarking to determine comparable compensation and to facilitate a process where persons with conflict of interest with respect to the compensation agreement are excluded from the process.”

“STEWARDSHIP One of the most exciting projects in recent NJ Audubon history is the Quail Restoration Initiative. This ambitious endeavor to restore Northern Bobwhite to New Jersey became real when we released 80 wild Northern Bobwhite, captured and trans- located from Georgia, onto the Pine Island Cranberry property in the heart of the pinelands. The first year's results were impressive with 14 confirmed nests and 66 hatched chicks. This was the first confirmed nesting and hatching of Northern Bobwhite in the NJ Pinelands since the 1980s! The project has just begun as we will be conducting two more releases over the coming years, and tracking and documenting the quail's survival and habitat use. We joined with more than fifty other non-profit organizations on the Delaware River Watershed Initiative, a bold endeavor spearheaded by the William Penn Foundation to protect and restore water quality across a 13,500 square mile area. We lead efforts to engage farmers and landowners in the implementation of best management practices that safeguard waterways, reduce water use, and improve wildlife habitat. We are working in two distinct regions of the state, the Highlands region and the area overlapping the Kirkwood-Cohansey Aquifer (largely southern NJ). In the Highlands region we have supported the installation of cover crops on more than 400 acres of farmland, worked on 23 acres of wetland restoration, 30 acres of grassland restoration, and more than three miles of riparian restoration. In the Kirkwood-Cohansey region we launched a small grants program to fund conservation practices and have funded projects covering close to 1,000 acres. This means supporting the use of cover crops, irrigation efficiency improvements, installation of grassed waterways and riparian buffers. We entered into a partnership with the New Jersey Invasive Species Strike Team to raise awareness about the impact invasive species have on native systems and to directly eradicate invasive species populations throughout the state. Consequently, we've engaged new partners in the eradication of invasive plants at high priority forest sites, held more than 10 outreach events involving more than 800 individuals, trained numerous partners and private landowners in invasive species eradiation techniques and directly eradicated over 230 invasive plant populations, many of which are newly emerging species that pose significant risk to native plants and wildlife. Our forest stewardship and restoration work continues to directly create, improve and restore habitat for numerous birds and other wildlife, while also improving forest health. Across New Jersey we developed or implemented more than 20 forest stewardship plans that cover more than 20,000 acres. The work has involved creating small patches of habitat for Golden-winged Warblers and other young forest species in northwestern NJ, creating habitat for Red-headed Woodpeckers in northern and southern NJ, restoring areas damaged by the Hemlock Wooly Adelgid at the Janet Van Gelder Wildlife Sanctuary, and creating habitat, while reducing wildfire risk, at the Hovnanian Sanctuary in Ocean County. POLICY & ADVOCACY At the State level, there were a number of successful policy actions during the year. One of the most significant accomplishments was the advancement of state legislation and the ultimate passage of a public question establishing a permanent funding source for the preservation and stewardship of open space and parks. We coordinated a robust state-wide conservation funding ballot measure which passed with 65% voter support in November 2014 and will provide $2 billion in funding over the next 20 years for acquisition of open space and stewardship of preserved lands and parks. This will provide significant protection for valuable habitat as well as protecting water, and clean, safe places for our children to play. Additionally, we focused efforts on ensuring healthy sustainable forests by advancing forest stewardship”

“Founded in 1897 and one of the oldest independent audubon societies, new jersey audubon has no connection with the national audubon society. New jersey audubon fosters environmental awareness and a conservation ethic amoung new jersey's citizens; protects new jersey's birds, mammals, other animals and plants, especially endangered and threatened species; and promotes preservation of new jersey's valuable natural habitats.”

“Description:contract & other fees total fees:1550983”