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Apple River) The Eagle Nature Foundation (ENF) is proud to once again sponsor an International Bald Eagle Days Event in 2012. The last International Bald Eagle Days that ENF has sponsored was back in 1997 at the Chattanooga Choo Choo in Chattanooga, TN. This year the event is to be held at the Ramada in Rochester, MN on Oct. 26-28, 2012. Co-sponsor for the event will be the Coalition for Sensible Siting in Rochester, MN.

The conference will start with a reception on Friday evening at 7:00 pm followed by a welcome and key note address at 8:00. The key note speaker will be announced at a later date. This will be followed by a presentation by Terrence Ingram, ENF Executive Director that will explain the need for such a meeting of bald eagle researchers from across the continent. Saturday morning there will be paper sessions on wind farms and their effects on bald eagles. Following lunch there will be paper sessions on the present status of the bald eagle population and threats to the bald eagle’s survival. There will also be a display of the winners entries in ENF’s school art contests.

For those people who don’t want to sit in on the paper sessions there will a bus tour in the morning to one location and a different tour in the afternoon to another location. These bus tour locations will be announced later.

At 5:30 on Saturday evening there will be a reception followed by a banquet at 6:00 pm. In addition to a noted banquet speaker to be announced later, the finalists in ENF’s school bald eagle essay contest will present their essays for final judging. After the speaker there will be a fund-raising auction and then an award ceremony when the winners of the school art contests and essay contests will be presented their winning trophies.

On Sunday morning there will be a bus tour to the footprint of the proposed Goodhue Wind Farm to visit all of the bald eagle nests that are present and would be impacted by the construction of this wind farm. Other events for the weekend are being planned.

To aid people in Illinois, southern Wisconsin and eastern Iowa to attend the event ENF will sponsor a sightseeing tour bus from the office in Apple River, IL to Rochester, MN. The bus will leave from Apple River at 1:00 pm on Oct. 26 and reservations must be made in advance of that date. Leading the bus tour will be Terrence Ingram, President of ENF, who will be pointing out birds and animals along the way and discussing the research that he has conducted for over 50 years on bald eagles and red-tailed hawks in Southwestern WI. The bus will follow the Mississippi River for over 70 miles where the views of the river bluffs are outstanding. Migrating birds such as hawks, eagles, pelicans, swans, ducks and geese will be identified.

The total cost for the 3 days, including the tour bus and all of the events at International Bald Eagle Days is $400 per person, or $600 dbl occupancy. The cost for children, 17 and under, staying with their parents will be $290 per child. Anyone interested in attending this 3-day event, should call 815-594-2306, or write: ENF, 300 East Hickory Street, Apple River, IL 61001.

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For more information contact: Terrence N. Ingram, Exec. Director, Eagle Nature Foundation, 300 East Hickory St., Apple River, IL 61001 Phone 815-594-2306