September 29, 1997

John Flicker, President
National Audubon Society
700 Broadway
New York, New York 10003 (212-979-3000)

Dear John,

Last week our Chapter sent you a copy of the 3-page letter we faxed to Mike Leahy regarding National Audubon's opposition to the Quincy Library Group (QLG) Bill. We have yet to hear from anyone on the national level, but I am writing you personally because of some information I recently became aware of.

On Friday I discovered a National Audubon view of the QLG which had your name attached. I am referring to the book The Ecology of Hope - Communities Collaborate for Sustainability by Ted Bernard and Jora Young, New Society Publishers, 1997. (This book was displayed at an award dinner put on by Plumas Corporation at which our chapter was recognized for publishing a Plumas County Bird List -- a collaborative effort with the Plumas County Visitors Bureau.

The book is a collection of hopeful stories of successful community collaboration for local resources management. One of these stories is entitled A Restorative Economy: Plumas County, California." The story accurately describes the Quincy Library Group and a related group -- the Feather River Coordinated Resource Management Group.

The following endorsement appears on the back cover of the book:

"This is a wonderful collection of stories that will truly lift your spirits. They tell of ordinary people going that extra mile to forge new and often difficult alliances in highly polarized circumstances. They are stories of courage, stories of people devoted to their places and determined to over come the differences that separate. Above all, they are refreshing models for the rest of us to follow in healing ourselves and nature, to create truly sustainable cultures." ... John Flicker, President National Audubon Society.

This appears to us to be in direct contradiction with the recent NAS anti-QLG position in Washington, D.C. In case you did have not yet received my letter to Mike Leahy last week, I am also enclosing a copy of it with this letter.

I would very much appreciate hearing from you directly on this. It is still the opinion of Plumas Audubon that the National folks have caved in to Washington, D.C. pressure (from other environmental organizations) without properly evaluating our extraordinary community efforts from an "Audubon" perspective.

I can generally be reached in the mornings at home: 916-284-6649.

Sincerely,

Sally Yost,
President, Plumas Audubon Society

cc: Mike Leahy, Dan Beard, Dan Taylor

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