Kaskaskia Valley Audubon Society

Volunteer Opportunities

Clifftop Cliffhangers

Controlled hill prairie burns, trail maintenance, prairie plant seed collection, and invasive plant removal/control

Ralph Buettner (618) 939-8240  rakabuet@htc.net

RIVERWATCH Stream Monitoring 
Training to assess stream habitat quality, aquatic insect larvae collection and identification each May & June,  long-term commitment best

Vera Bojic National Great Rivers Research & Education Center (618) 468-4870 vbojic@lc.edu

National Audubon Society Christmas Bird Count
In-field bird census in a designated area; a 24-hour count of all species numbers of each     

Baldwin L   Tim Dever  (618) 475-2366                   
Collinsville   Frank Holmes     451-2127                    

Carlyle Lake    Dan Kassebaum         233-5451                          

Pyramid State Park  Joe Merkelbach  jemerk@netwiz.net      jem_merk@hotmail.com

Bush Honeysuckle Removal Crew

Removal of this non-native plant from quality woodland habitats          

Tim Dever, KVAS projects (618) 475-2366 coltond98@sbcglobal.net                                  

Salt Lick Point Committee
Hill prairie restoration, trail maintenance, invasive plant control  
Rich Dependahl  (618) 939-6065                                                                                  
  
Kaskasia Valley Garlic Mustard Removal Crew
Control of most invasive plants in Kaskaskia Valley, garlic mustard, bush honeysuckle,  Japanese honeysuckle
Glen Schuetz (618) 243-6147 glens55@hotmail.com        

American Kestral Banding Program
falcons and maintenance of box houses; assist with banding of young
Thomas May (618) 475-2790       samtum@att.net

Friends of Stemler Cave
Protection of karst/cave habitat & watershed, trail maintenance
Bob Weck, coordinator  (618) 281-9816         bobweck@swic.edu

Kaskasia River Clean-up Day
Annual refuse removal from Kaskaskia R. shoreline, etc. October
Tim Dever, KVAS projects, (618) 475-2366 coltond98@sbcglobal.net

U.S. Geological Survey Breeding Bird Survey
long-term commitment best  25-mi. driven census conducted in 3-min segments that helps establish national bird population trends 
Vernon Kleen   (217) 787-3515  Vkleen@comcast.net  

State of Illinois Spring Bird Count
First Saturday of the first full weekend in May
Monroe Co.:  Mary Regan        (618) 234-1609  mary.glfnbrdr@gmail.com  
St. Clair Co.:   Richard Call       233-1143                 
Randolph Co.:  Tim Dever        475-2366    coltond98@sbcglobal.net

Master Naturalist Program University of Illinois Coop Extension Office
Classroom & in-field training in biology,climatology, entomology, etc.
Pam Jacobs  Jacobsp@illinois.edu  (618) 939-3434    

KVAS is a chapter of the Illinois Audubon Society. Please view their site for more information.

Some of our members are also a part of the conservation group CLIFFTOP and all are invited to join them in their efforts and check out their site.

Participate in the Great Backyard Bird Count . View their site for more information.

The Illinois Birding Calendar is a listing of bird related walks, talks and events in and around the state of Illinois. This is a free, opt-in calendar, maintained by the Illinois Audubon Society, Illinois Ornithological Society and Bird Conservation Network for non-profit organizations.

For Illinois birding updates please visit the IBET website.

Check out the local Middle Mississippi River National Wildlife Refuge website. They are looking for volunteers.

Joe Schmidt is a member of KVAS and a nature and landscape photographer. Visit his site for nature images, many from around our area.