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Audubon confusion ruffles group's feathers By PAUL FATTIG A group calling itself Audubon International, which awarded a Rogue Valley golf course with an environmental certificate, has members of the National Audubon Society crying foul. Audubon International has no connection with the group founded in 1905 and named for famed ornithologist John James Audubon, yet the name causes many to assume an affiliation, members say. The concern was raised by Medford resident Kathleen Donham in the December newsletter of the Rogue Valley chapter of the National Audubon Society. She is an immediate past board member. "It's not that the golf courses are trying to pull anything over," Donham said in an interview. "But it looks as if we're directly supporting the golf course's effort and we're not." Audubon International says it doesn't try to pass itself off as affiliated with the national group but maintains that it also has legitimate environmental credentials. Originally sparking the debate was the environmental planning certification given out last fall by Audubon International to Quail Point Golf Course in Medford. In spring 1998, the Grants Pass Golf Club also had joined the sanctuary system program offered by Audubon International. "The concern I have is that people are sometimes confused because they do frequently assume they (Audubon International) are, in fact, affiliated with us," said John Bianchi, spokesman for the National Audubon Society headquarters in New York City. "There is absolutely no connection," he added. "We do not do that type of work with golf courses. There is no golf course program going on with our group." Audubon International does make a disclaimer indicating the two groups are not affiliated, Bianchi noted. "Yet the confusion is there," he said, adding he spends several hours each week answering questions about Audubon International. "But if a golf course is concerned about reducing the impact on the environment, that's a good thing to do," he said. "It's an incredibly fast-growing industry. It's a good thing to make improving the environment a priority." Joellen Zeh, staff ecologist for the Selkirk, New York-based Audubon International, acknowledged the name similarity has caused some to confuse the two groups. "Most people hear the name Audubon and assume we are part of the National Audubon Society," she said. "But there are hundreds of independent Audubon societies. We're one of them." The group began as the Audubon Society of New York a decade ago but changed its name to Audubon International because its membership has spread beyond New York state, Zeh said. "We are an environmental organization that is nonprofit," she said. "Our mission is to improve the environment." Its Audubon Cooperative Sanctuary Program is an effort to encourage golf courses to consider the environment and animal habitat when caring for the land, she said. The group has certain environmental quality criteria for courses to be fully certified. The areas include water conservation, wildlife and habitat management and an education and outreach program. Full members have to provide information about the course's land and waterways and pay $100 in annual dues. While some environmental groups may take exception to working with golf courses because of a reputation that the courses use excessive amounts of herbicides and pesticides, Audubon International figures it's a worthwhile effort. "We all have a different mission," Zeh said of environmental groups. "Ours is to educate and motivate private land managers to improve the environment." Its golf course program is sponsored in part by the U.S. Golf Association, Zeh said. Golf courses in the program help enhance wildlife habitat by building nests for cavity-dwelling birds, using integrated pest management techniques, conserving water and maintaining food and cover for wildlife. Nesting boxes for birds and boxes for bats already have been built at Quail Point, according to Rob Patridge. He is the general counselor for the Rogue Valley Manor, which owns the golf course. Patridge is also the state representative for District 50. "We certainly weren't misrepresenting anything," Patridge said of last fall's announcement about the environmental certification program. "We knew they weren't connected (with the National Audubon Society). "But they have set some good standards we are trying to meet," he added. Mail Tribune Copyright � The Mail Tribune 1999, Medford, Oregon USA