Established in 2018, we present the Central Valley Bird Club Conservation Award to recognize the contribution of the awardees to the conservation of birds in the Central Valley.
Ted Beedy & Susan Sanders
Ted and Susan, a husband-and-wife team, were presented with this award for their long and distinguished careers in protecting key species and ecosystems in California’s Central Valley, and elsewhere in northern California, through research, conservation action, and public education. They have each applied their skills for over 40 years, volunteering and working independently and at various environmental consulting firms in northern California.
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Steve Chainey
Steve was recognized with this award for his career of restoring and protecting ecosystems in California’s Central Valley for nearly 35 years. Along with several others, Steve is widely recognized as a foundational figure in the practice of land and habitat restoration in Northern California. His knowledge of landscapes, physical processes, and ecosystems, and his vision and influence, propelled many important restoration projects since the 1990s.
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Steve Simmons
Steve received this award for his sustained and significant work in providing nest boxes for cavity-nesting birds. For over 45 years, Steve operated a nest box program to enhance breeding opportunities for Wood Ducks, American Kestrels, Western Screech and Barn owls, Western Bluebirds, Tree Swallows, Ash-throated Flycatchers, and a variety of other cavity-nesting birds by installing and maintaining hundreds of nest boxes in vineyards and rangelands of Merced County. His boxes have fledged over 100,000 birds, including 78,000 Wood Ducks.
Tricolored Blackbird Working Group
The Central Valley Bird Club presented the inaugural Conservation Award to influential members of the Tricolored Blackbird Working Group.
Samantha Arthur
Samantha Arthur, Conservation Project Director at Audubon California, was recognized for her work coordinating the multi-stakeholder Working Group, securing grants to support protection of nesting colonies in dairy silage fields, co-authoring several papers on ecology and conservation of tricolors, and especially for leading critical advocacy efforts that led to the listing of the species as Threatened in California in 2018.
Neil Clipperton
Neil Clipperton, Nongame Wildlife Biologist at the California Department of Fish and Wildlife, was recognized for his authorship of the Tricolored Blackbird status review, which was a key document that supported the need for state listing of the species. Neil also has had key roles in the Working Group, securing funding and implementing the silage colony protection program, and funding and overseeing key research and monitoring programs.
Bob Meese
Bob Meese, recently retired from UC Davis, was recognized for his long commitment to research, monitoring, and conservation on behalf of the Tricolored Blackbird, including managing the Statewide Tricolored Blackbird survey; implementing a large banding program that has provided key information on survival and movements; publishing key research on population status, reproductive success, ecology, and habitat management; and developing and managing the Tricolored Blackbird portal, a central repository for information on the species.