Tag Archives: judy mcclaver

February Board Meeting Minutes

Your Neighborhood Group

East Sacramento Preservation

Monthly Board Meeting

Wednesday, January 8, 2020, 7pm

McClaskey Warren Adult Education Center

Present

Will Green

Martin Palomar

Michael Greene

Janet Maira

Rose Luther

Nancy Dannevik

Bill Dannevik

Ellen Cochrane

Elections

Thank you to outgoing President Janet Maira, Secretary Jennifer Cummings and Treasurer Martin Palomar for their faithful service.

Welcome 2020 Officers

President: Martin Palomar

Vice President: Janet Maira

Treasurer: Will Green

Secretary: Ellen Cochrane

Scholarship Update

The ESP Kit Carson graduating senior scholarship cycle begins in April. Will Green will ask member Amy Sweat to help with student training for the application process. Rose would like to join the scholarship committee.

Print Ad

ESP will run a full-page print add in East Sacramento News that details our values and outlines our activities.

Environment Committee

The Board and members present agreed that acting locally is a powerful way to effect change. ESP will form a committee to pursue speakers, action points and a communication process with council and the mayor to move forward on environmental preservation. Specific comments included concerns about our tree canopy, pollinators, land use, American River habitat destruction, air quality, recycling, partnering with the Tree Foundation, water and other issues. Members expressed frustration about who to contact regarding illegal or dangerous homeless activities.

 Member Appreciation Meeting

ESP will hold a Neighbor Appreciation Get-together on February 29 (Leap Year!) to greet new members and appreciate current. Details about time and place TBA.

POPS

All present agreed that ESP should gather volunteers for East Portal Pops in the Park. We reached out to CM Harris’ office to learn the 2020 POPS date.

Pond Update

Our pond lead, Judy McClaver, was not able to attend. Pond update to follow

Anti-trash Campaign

Martin Palomar and Will Green created and run the campaign, which ESP supports. Trash pickup in McKinley Park is on-going.

Welcome to new members: Nancy and Bill Dannevik

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Ducklings and Goslings: A Message from Judy McClaver

ducklingsSpring is here and it’s baby season for wildlife. This includes waterfowl. Ducks and geese have made their nests and are hatching their eggs. They nest under shrubs, in high grass, up in trees, in your backyards, in parks, and along waterways. Not all nests are next to water. They can be blocks away.

If you see a mother duck with her ducklings crossing a street, she is headed to water. Help her by protecting her from car traffic but don’t chase her. She knows where she is going and can only go the speed of her babies. If the ducklings are in your pool, put a ramp in for the babies to get out or raise the water level way up to the lip of the pool. They have no protection other than their moms from cold and wet, though they can swim.

Please keep your dogs on leash when out and about to prevent them disturbing or injuring the nests or babies. If orphaned babies are found, please deliver to your local wildlife rehab organization (see below). It is illegal to keep wildlife more than two days and likely they will not survive without proper feed and care. Handling them will also cause enough stress to kill them. Gathering babies up or removing them from their parents and releasing them into a pond, canal, or river is a death sentence. Ducklings and goslings need parental protection. Wildlife are protected by Federal and State laws and there are fines for harassing or disturbing wildlife.

These organizations rehabilitate orphaned wildlife:

Gold Country Wildlife – https://goldcountrywildliferescue.org/wildlife-emergency/Sierra Wildlife – http://www.sierrawildliferescue.org/so-you-found-a/
Wildlife Care Assoc – https://wildlifecareassociation.com/found-animal/

Do not feed bread, chips or crackers to waterfowl anywhere (adults or babies).

Here are some tips to keep the feeding fun and the waterfowl healthy:

  1. Don’t overfeed. Take a small bag of treats.
  2. Explain to the kids that the ducks are on a special diet to help them stay healthy.
  3. Feed dark, leafy greens (not iceberg lettuce), some corn, carrots, and peas for extra treats.
  4. Western Feed carries fowl scratch and corn. This commercial food is nutritionally designed for birds. Pellets and crumble can be found at other stores.
  5. You can make small feed balls with brown rice, hardboiled eggs and greens.
  6. Avoid feeding goslings or ducklings.

Misfeeding waterfowl has heartbreaking consequences. Wings of baby fowl can become deformed from a processed-carbohydrate diet. The unusual deformity called ‘angel wing’ can be a symptom. Adults can also become sick if the bread gets stuck in their crops.

 

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