BIRDS TELL US THAT IT IS TIME TO ACT

From Montana climate projections to Montana birds to Montana climate solutions: Where do we go from here?”  

By Amy Cilimburg

We’re increasingly exposed to dire climate reports from all over the world. Our birds and wildlife are on the brink. We’re seeing rollbacks to federal environmental protection. Yet amidst all this there’s a palpable shift happening around the world. Youth voices are emboldening new activists who are energized to act on climate and conservation. Nature-based solutions and the value of forests will increasingly be part of what we do. How can we in Montana weave together actions that work for people and wildlife and build a livable future? It is time for Bitterroot Audubon members and other concerned citizens of the Bitterroot Valley to take meaningful action! Join Bitterroot Audubon Monday, October 21^st, to learn from an expert about what is happening and what we can do.

Amy Cilimburg, one of the founders of Climate Smart Missoula, the non-profit she helped launch four years ago, will share some insights based on her years of researching Montana birds and her experience understanding climate impacts and working on climate solutions.  She’ll speak to current local climate resiliency and mitigation efforts, particularly from Climate Smart Missoula. Climate Smart is the outgrowth of community efforts to take action on climate and Amy will showcase this collaborative initiative and how other communities can grow new, localized efforts. She will also connect this work to new statewide climate work. Finally, she promises to leave us not with despair but with hope.

Amy helped launch Climate Smart Missoula in 2015 following efforts to develop Missoula's Climate Action Plans and has worked on climate and energy policy and conservation for over a decade. As the Executive Director of Climate Smart Missoula, she advocates for climate solutions and works to build networks and community resiliency.  Prior to this she was the Director of Bird Conservation for Montana Audubon for seven years and prior to that, co-directed the University of Montana’s Avian Science Center. Amy has a MS degree in Wildlife Biology from the University of Montana where she studied Yellow Warblers in the Bitterroot! She’s Board Chair of the Missoula’s Mountain Line bus system, is on the Board of the Missoula Chapter of Montana Conservation Voters, and was recently appointed to the Governor’s Climate Solutions Council.  Amy lives, birds, and runs in the Rattlesnake north of Missoula with her family. 

Bitterroot Audubon invites members and the public to hear Amy on Monday, Oct.21, 7PM at the Forest Service Building, 1801 North 1^st(north end of Hamilton, west side of HWY 93). Enter the building on the west side. Contact Becky Peters for additional information, 369-5210