Dear Members and Friends,

The year 2010 was wracked with both natural and unnatural disasters that held enormous consequences for Earth’s inhabitants.  The tragedy in Haiti demonstrated in horrifically clear terms that civilization continues to be no match for nature’s unyielding force.  Further painful and costly lessons were learned in terms of harnessing nature’s resources, from the Chilean mine collapse to the Gulf Coast oil catastrophe.

Here in the Garden State we have learned our own lessons, with regard to the importance of protecting resources for people and wildlife.  We have witnessed the continued decline of species, due to a variety of factors that include habitat loss, human disturbance, competition from non-native species and even climate change.  Loss of biodiversity is a warning that natural systems are out of balance.  In the pages of this annual report, you will find good news, as New Jersey Audubon works to restore balance and protect wildlife and the habitats they – and we – depend upon. 

Our conservation staff successfully advocated for the ongoing preservation of New Jersey’s open spaces, promoted ecologically sound management of our forests and grasslands, encouraged environmental laws that protect water quality, and inspired a bill to stem nature deficit disorder, a deepening disconnect among children from their natural environment.   We collaborated with like-minded organizations, corporate leaders, farmers, legislators and our own dedicated membership to ensure the integrity of our natural systems.  Realizing the great potential of sharing expertise and combining strengths, New Jersey Audubon officially joined as an affiliate of the National Wildlife Federation to address key conservation issues of local, regional, national and global significance. 

With research and education providing the groundwork from which New Jersey Audubon advances all of its conservation goals, our scientists both studied and raised awareness of hazards affecting breeding grassland bird species, impacts of biodiversity in wetlands on urban human populations, risks to migrating birds and bats from wind turbines and other tall structures, and causes for the ongoing decline of migratory shorebirds.  And, through an extraordinary variety and depth of programs, conducted in and around our nature centers – including our newly opened Hoffman Center for Conservation and Environmental Education, New Jersey Audubon educators continued to bring people of all ages closer to our natural world.  From hikes, summer camps, lectures, workshops, festivals and delightfully muddied children, to demonstration grasslands, acres of sunflowers, citizen science, corporate stewardship volunteers, bio-blitz partners and – yes, even Ranger Rick, hundreds of thousands of individuals explored, enjoyed and connected with nature.

It is, perhaps, this most fundamental accomplishment that will have the widest and most enduring impact.  Understanding that our human inclination is to fight hardest and most passionately for what we truly care about, it is that connection – the deep bond that comes from knowledge, respect, and sheer wonder – that will, ultimately, ensure the future of conservation.  Thank you to all New Jersey Audubon members and friends for the generous support that resulted in the successes highlighted here in our 2010 Annual Report.  

Thomas J. Gilmore
President and CEO