Hawk Mountain Sanctuary Association

“Board members deborah and stephen edge are siblings.”

“The association's bylaws create 2 categories of members : - voting members (who are the board of directors) - associate members (who are public, dues-paying members of the sanctuary association). - associate members have no role in governance.”

“The business manager, president, and executive committee perform an initial review of the form 990. The entire board is then given the opportunity to review the form 990 before the return is filed with the irs.”

“Directors, officers, and key employees complete an annual questionnaire. The conflict of interest policy is consistently monitored by the executive committee. Family and business relationships are mentioned in the conflict of interest policy as sources of potential conflicts. Conflicted individuals recuse themselves from any decision-making involving the conflict.”

“The board of directors determines the compensation of the president by, among other things, reviewing comparable positions at similar non-profit organizations, with a focus on conservation organizations, to ensure compensation is within fair market range for the industry. The compensation review process for top officials is determined subsequent to the determination of the overall annual fiscal budget. The president establishes the overall annual budget, and compensation adjustments are then determined based on the overall budget with specific salaries set by the president. The budget, which includes salaries, is approved by the board.”

“The governing documents, conflict of interest policy, and financial statements are available upon request.”

“3) conservation science - local to international research, information exchange and mentoring, professional training and scientific study, analysis and publication: the five-member conservation science team at hawk mountain includes three ph.d.-level scientists and is led by sarkis acopian director of conservation science dr. Laurie goodrich winner of the women in conservation lifetime achievement award from pennfuture along with many other accolades. The program focuses on determining raptor population trends and underlying causes and gaining new insight into the process and patterns of raptor movement ecology. Professional staff records and maintains counts of migrating raptors onsite each autumn, conducts public-education programs, oversees professional training, and conducts and analyzes counts of both spring and autumn migrants along with other wildlife and bird surveys. The sanctuary's long-term (1934-present) database of autumn counts serves as a critical indicator of the conservation status of raptor populations in northeastern north america. The dataset represents the longest and most detailed record of raptor populations in the world and is provided to the public and to professionals for learning, general interest, or analysis. Independent research includes long-term studies of new world vultures, american kestrels in pennsylvania, the endangered hooded vulture in africa, broad-winged hawk migration ecology, arctic raptors, striated caracaras in the falkland islands, pennsylvania farmland raptors, and the northern goshawk. In all research, telemetry tracking has taken precedence, and the database of telemetry data-points now far exceeds the long-term migration count data. A growing graduate student program further extends the reach of the sanctuary by working with young scientists conducting independent research. In 2020, the team launched the first collaborative and international study to pinpoint the cause for american kestrel declines in the eastern united states and is now pursuing an endowment to secure annual funds for dedicated graduate students, post-docs and early-career scientists to help advance the sanctuary's ambitious research goals. A grant this year will continue this research. The kestrel study has expanded to include 60 collaborators, four major universities, and two graduate students. The sanctuary supported more than a dozen young people to help advance their careers through seed grants sponsored by the ben olewine project soar awards, mentored a dozen graduate students, and published a spanish-language and pocket-sized raptor flight guide for migratory raptors of mesoamerica. Five graduate students received their ph.d.s, an outstanding feat for raptor conservation science, the graduate students, and for hawk mountain. The team also mentored and raised funds to rejuvenate a count site in kekoldi, costa rica, where more than 2 million raptors were tallied, following scientific protocols. A major goal of this project is to work on sustainability planning and securing funds for ongoing counts, and with local non-profit oversight. The fledgling sites in colombia, launched by former trainee esther valejo, is now in its fourth year and continues to expand, particularly in its educational outreach. Conservation science facilities include the acopian center for conservation learning center, a three-building complex with two residences and a research center that houses office, lab and work space along with a library that serves as a global information center for raptor migration science. The acopian center library is a world-class resource boasting 3,500-volumes and 168 scientific journals. The library is open by appointment at no cost to anyone with an interest in studying raptors or conducting research on conservation issues. 4) inclusion, diversity, equity and accessibility (i.d.e.a.): hawk mountain is committed to increasing accessibility for all and offers at no extra charge an all-terrain wheelchair”