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ENF 2014 International Bald Eagle Days
Invitation | Itinerary | Banquet Speaker | Tour Bus | History | Registration & Payment
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Holiday Inn/KCI Convention Center,
Kansas City, MO
October 10 to 12, 2014
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Sponsored by:
Eagle Nature Foundation
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Download the 2014 IBED Brochure and Registration Form
- Check Facebook for the latest IBED updates
InvitationTOP
You are cordially invited to attend ENF's 2014 International Bald Eagle Days (IBED) to be held on October 10 - 12, 2014 at the Holiday Inn/KCI Convention Center in Kansas City, MO. This event is being sponsored by the Eagle Nature Foundation, Apple River, IL
How Healthy Is our North American Bald Eagle Population?
Bald eagle researchers and government agencies from across the North American continent are being invited to attend this conference to try to answer this question. Last year over 110 bald eagles were found dead in the mid-west alone, with more being found in Idaho and Utah. How many others have died? Could chemicals be a problem?
The nation's bald eagle population appears to be having a difficult time producing young that can survive for even one year, let alone until they become adults. Could this be caused by a disease like West Nile Virus, starvation, or some other sinister cause, such as chemicals in our environment, which may be working their way into the bald eagle's food source?
This conference will feature paper sessions to address the potential problem. We will first focus on the present status of the bald eagle in various states and provinces across the continent and then we will focus on the threats to the bald eagle's survival. After each paper session there will be a panel of the speakers to answer questions from each other, or from the audience.
The whole conference is being designed to be people friendly, so every person can become involved. The eagle is our National Symbol. We all have a stake in its future. The tentative Friday evening program will be a panel discussion by organizations and government agencies on the "Future of the Missouri River".
Tentative ItineraryTOP
Friday, Oct. 10
8:00am Tour Bus: Leaves Apple River, IL
12:00pm Tour Bus: Lunch, Cracker Barrel, Des Moines, IA
4:00 Tour Bus: Arrive in Kansas City, MO
7:00pm Reception, KCI Convention Center
8:00 Panel Discussion on "The Future of the Missouri River"
Saturday, Oct. 11
8:00am Welcome
8:15 Paper Session
9:45 Panel
10:00 Break
10:15 Paper Session
11:45 Panel
12:00pm Lunch
1:00 Paper session
2:45 Panel
3:00 Break
3:15 Paper Session
4:45 Panel
5:30pm Reception
6:00 Banquet, Speaker, Fund Raising Auction
Sunday, Oct. 12
8:00am Sunday Morning 4 Hour Bus Tour: Leaves for tour of Squaw Creek National Wildlife Refuge, Mound City, MO
This tour returns to KCI Expo Center at 12 noon
12:30 Tour Bus: Leaves KCI Expo Center for Apple River, IL
5:30 Tour Bus: Dinner at Amana Truck Stop
8:30 Tour Bus: Arrives in Apple River, IL
IBED Banquet SpeakerTOP
The banquet speaker for Saturday night for the 2014 International Bald Eagle Days in Kansas City, MO, will be George Fenwick, President of the
American Bird Conservancy in Plains, VA. Mr. Fenwick has served as President and CEO since ABC's founding in 1994. Prior to that,
he worked in a variety of capacities during 15 years with the Nature Conservancy, including Director of Science, and Chair of the
Last Great Places Campaign Steering Committee. Fenwick received a Ph. D. in Pathobiology from Johns Hopkins University.
Tour BusTOP
As we have done during past IBEDs, ENF will be sponsoring a tour bus to attend this conference. Any birds and animals that are seen along the way will be identified and the natural environment and its ecology that is seen along the way will be discussed. This conference will be right in the middle of the fall migration for many birds so many different species may be seen.
The bus will leave from ENF's office in Apple River at 8:00 am on Friday, Oct. 10th, and will return to ENF's office about 8:30 pm on Sunday evening, Oct. 12th. When going to IBED the bus will stop at Cracker Barrel in Des Moines, IA for lunch.
The tour bus will leave at 8:00 am Sunday, Oct. 12, to go to Squaw Creek National Wildlife Refuge near Mound City, MO taking sack lunches with us. Squaw Creek is one of our nation's best refuges for observing migrating ducks and geese. Each year Squaw Creek has many bald eagles stop over during and after the waterfowl season to feed on the injured and dead waterfowl.
There should be many varieties of waterfowl to be observed and enjoyed by everyone. The tour bus should return back to the Convention Center by 12:00 noon. At 12:30 pm the bus will leave the KCI Convention Center to head back to Apple River, arriving about 8:30 pm.
Anyone purchasing a tour bus package will have paid for all of their possible options for the conference, including; tour bus, two nights in the Holiday Inn, conference registration, Friday evening panel, all Saturday breaks, Saturday luncheon, the banquet on Saturday evening, the Sunday tour bus to Squaw Creek and a Sunday box lunch.
This should be a great educational weekend getaway filled with many opportunities for taking pictures of eagle and hawk nests and the birds of prey themselves, as well as many different varieties of ducks, geese, swans, pelicans, and possibly some beautiful fall colors. A person will come away with a much better knowledge and appreciation for the problems facing our National Symbol.
Pricing and Additional Info
Tour Bus Package, includes the Event Package (IBED Registration, Friday evening program,
Saturday luncheon, Saturday evening banquet, and Sunday morning bus tour)
plus a room for two nights at Holiday Inn and the sightseeing Tour Bus from Apple River, IL,
leaving at 8:00 AM on Oct. 10, and returning about 8 pm on Oct. 12: adult, $500 person; or $750 per couple, dbl occupancy;
children, 17 and under w/parents, $300.
The deadline for registration for the full bus tour, or to reserve a room at the Ramada is Sept. 5, 2014.
History of International Bald Eagle DaysTOP
The Eagle Nature Foundation, (at that time, the Southwestern Wisconsin Audubon Club), sponsored the nation's first Bald Eagle Days event in December of 1967 at Cassville, WI. The highlights of that event were the presence of a live bald eagle and the first showing of the 20 minute 16 mm film, Eagle Country, which had been photographed and produced by Terrence Ingram.
After two years, in 1970, the event was once again held in Cassville, WI, after which, it became an annual event for many years. Because the event had attracted researchers from Canada as well as the United States, the name was changed from Bald Eagle Days to International Bald Eagle Days and was moved to various parts of the continent; each time featuring local efforts being done in that particular local region to monitor and help bring the bald eagle back from the brink of extinction.
Over the years it has been held in: Cassville, WI; Platteville, WI; Madison, WI; Chicago, IL; St. Louis, MO; Minneapolis, MN; Davenport, IA; Rochester, NY; Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada; Orlando, FL; Tempe, AZ; Dubuque, IA; Chattanooga, TN and the last time, 2012 in Rochester, MN. Each year the event has been co-sponsored by a local organization, or government agency.
Since IBED in January, 1997, the bald eagle population has been delisted by the F&W Service and removed from our nation's Endangered Species List. Each year the F&W Service has put out news releases stating that more young eagles have been raised that year than the previous year. If this were true, there should be a record number of immature eagles in the population today. As no one is seeing a record number of young, we believe that something must be happening to them.
In the Midwest the bald eagle population appeared to have peaked around the year 2000. For several years since then during its Annual Midwinter Bald Eagle Count, the Eagle Nature Foundation has recorded the same percentage of young as it had recorded on this count in the mid 1960's, when far fewer people were looking for the birds.
The goal for this conference is to try to determine what can possibly be the reason, or cause, for this great disconnect, and to find ways to correct it.
Wind FarmsTOP
The Eagle Nature Foundation has always endorsed properly located wind turbines as a way for our nation to produce vital needed electrical power with the least disturbance to the environment. However, to find the proper locations for these ventures, complete, accurate and true studies of the potential impact the turbines will have on the animals and birds living in the footprint of the wind farm must be completed before such ventures start. False or incomplete studies of the birds and animals that will be impacted are a real disservice to our nation and to the local community.
The Goodhue Wind Farm was given a tentative go ahead based on a poorly conducted environmental study of the area, especially when birds of prey and bats are concerned. These are two groups of animals that spend part of their time flying within the height of the spinning turbines. As we see it, the people who conducted this study should be ashamed to call themselves researchers. They can only be called professionals, because they have been paid, and not for the quality of work they have done.
Over the years ENF has consistently seen similar environmental studies that have been completed by people who do not know much about bald eagles. And yet the decision as to whether the project moves forward hinges upon the results of those studies that have been completed by such persons. We have seen these studies be completed for highways, strip mines, dams, bridges, and now wind farms.
Some of them have even been completed by persons who are supposed to know bald eagles, but they have designed the study in such a way that how the bald eagles use the area, or how many bald eagles use the area cannot be determined. When we have gone to court in some of these cases, it has only been under cross examination that we have been able to document that not only was the study inadequate, but that while conducting the study the �researcher� was actually harming the bald eagles using the area, or in some cases, even driving them away, so the report would record few bald eagles using the area.
The Goodhue environmental report stated that there possibly may be a bald eagle nest near the footprint, when actually there were six bald eagle nests within the foot-print. Whenever possible, and when needed, the Eagle Nature Foundation takes such false information to court to prove what are the real facts.
Event RegistrationTOP
If you would like to attend and participate in the following events at IBED,
download the 2014 IBED Brochure and Registration Form. Pricing and options are noted within this document.
The deadline for registration for the full bus tour and event package is Sept. 5, 2014.
There will be no refunds after Sept. 9, 2014.
Online PaymentTOP
| Item | Adult | Child |
|---|---|---|
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Event and Tour Bus Package
includes all of the below plus a room for two nights at Holiday Inn AND the sightseeing Tour Bus from Apple River, IL |
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| Event and Tour Bus Package Per couple, double occupancy |
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| Event Package includes all of the below |
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| Friday evening Reception and Panel | ||
| Friday evening Panel only | ||
| Saturday evening Reception and Banquet | ||
| Saturday evening Reception, a named table for up to 8 people | ||
| Saturday afternoon Luncheon | ||
| Sunday Morning Bus Tour to Squaw Creek National Wildlife Refuge with box lunch |
How to use this payment table: When you click on the "Add To Cart" button, that item will be added to a PayPal cart. The default quantity is one item. If you need multiple items, you will be able to change the quantity at PayPal, then make your payment. If you have any questions, please contact us by phone or website.
Cover PhotoTOP
This bald eagle is swallowing a fish whole, that it has just caught in the Mississippi River.
Photo Credit: Les Zigurski, Scales Mound, IL