MEMBERSHIPS FEES INCREASE SIGNIFICANT

Up Until the November issue the. costs of producing the Island Naturalist were covered by the . Department of Tourism and Parks under an agreement to v provide our Society's newsletter to school libraries and to include a page per issue on Parks events. The . Society will be one of the first organizations to feel ‘ ' the pinch of the province‘s budget squeeze as the cost’ ' of printing the newsletter must now be passed along to the Society members. ' . '

.The Society_produces 375 copies of the newsletter. Members receive- approximately 220 copies and the schools and libraries across the province receive 85 more copies. 0f the balance. the newsletter exchange program with other organizations takes 16, news media-receive 8. and the balance are used to attract new members and to promote the work of the society. Various options of producing the newsletter ranging from photocopying (the present process) to offset copying were explored. The printing and mailing costs per issue of the newsletter will be in the S 300 to $500 range. In addition to newsletter cost increases, the costs for our meeting room jumped 60% this year. After considerable disCussion at the annual meeting on January 7, 1992 the membership dues for the Society were increased to $12. ‘If the newsletter

.costs are at the high end of the range it will be necessary to reduce the number of issues of the newsletter to 4 per year so that the fees can be maintained at this level. ’

NATURAL HISTORY SOCIETY OF P.E.I. INC. UPDATE _ by Carolyn Meincke

There has been a wide variety of exciting activities and accomplishments this past year at the Natural History Society. >

There were two displays hosted by the Spoiety this year, one during National wildlife Week and the other during National Forestry Week. Since that time. the Executive decided to purchase disolay boards.

' In May. the Society hosted its annual slide show and added a Special category competition for wildlife slides. 'Geoff Hogan won first prize in the open category while Margaret Mallett won the special competition prize. Don Wilkinson won secdnd place prize and Roberta Palmer won the third place prize.

Donald Wilkinson..Charles Keuper. and Roberta Palmer acted as judges for the U.P.E.I. Science Fair and awarded prizes and newsletter subscriptions to 14 young winners.‘ , . ~ - -

We were pleased that connections with other groups and agencies increased.. Society members wOrked with the Island Nature Trust. Rails to Trails. Parks and People. P.E.I. National Park. and other organizations on solutions to sand drift on_the National Parks highway north of the Lake of Shining Waters and a proposed interpretation center near this site.

The NHS organized and implemented the P.E.I. Section of the International Census for Piping Plovers with the assistance of funds from the Environment Week program." In addition to this work, Ben Hoteling implemented Piping Plover awareness surveys and a public educatiOn program. One publication was prepared and circulated to plover researchers and a second paper is being prepared for inclusion in a Canadian Wildlife Service occasional paper. . »

The Society established a committee-to research and recommend non-destructive gull control technigues to aid the population of Ccnmon Terns nesting on the Hillsborough Bridge Piers. After a lengthy discussion at a

_ 3 I