IT ALL STARTED WITH BIRDS

A HISTORY OF the Loess Hills audubon Society

by Sharon Polifka

Thank you to all LHAS members, too numerous to mention, who helped with compiling this history.

 Birding has been a popular pastime in the Sioux City area since the early 1900’s when the first bird club, the Sioux City Bird Club (SCBC), was organized in 1913.  The purpose of the club was to encourage interest in the identification and study of birds, their flights, migration, habitat and the protection and conservation of natural resources relative to birds and other wildlife. Copies of their programs, field trips, bird counts, banquet programs and other activities as well as copies of the SCBC quarterly publication The Dickcissel, have been archived at the Sioux City Museum.  This material was donated to the museum by Bob and Phyllis Nickolson.

The SCBC ceased operating as a birding organization sometime in the early 1980’s.  However, there continued to be a group of people from the SCBC primarily interested in birding which eventually led to the organization known as the Sioux City Chapter of the Audubon Society.  Members of the former SCBC and the newly organized Sioux City Chapter did participate in a number of activities together such as the 1981 Christmas Bird Count.

The Sioux City Chapter of the Audubon Society obtained a Provisional Charter from the National Audubon Society in 1973.  A meeting to organize the local Audubon Chapter was held on May 2, 1973.  The Original Constitution and By-Laws were developed on November 2, 1973. A Provisional Charter was presented to the group at Morningside Public Library by Edward Brigham, North Midwest Representative of the National Audubon Society, on November 3, 1973.  At that time, there were approximately 50 members of the newly organized chapter.  The goals of the Sioux City Chapter were twofold, environmental education and conservation action.  Officers included Carolyn Benne, President; Greg Funk, Vice President and Membership Chairperson; Jerri Morris, Secretary; Warren Green, Treasurer. The first newsletter of the Sioux City Audubon Society was printed in April, 1974.  The newsletter was later named More from Loess in the early 1980’s.

The Sioux City Chapter of the Audubon Society was renamed the Loess Hills Audubon Society (LHAS) in the fall of 1981.  LHAS was officially incorporated by the Secretary of State of Iowa on June 1, 1984.  There were 11 original directors:  Jerry Probst, Marla and Brad Grier, Bob Livermore, Randy Williams, Bill Huser, Dale Stone, John Huff, Barbara Currier, Terry Dolezal and Joan Glaza.  Jerry Probst was the original registered agent.

 MORE HISTORY

Sylvan Runkel, noted conservationist, forester, and naturalist –Mr. Runkel visited the Sioux City area in 1973 and led the first field trip of the Sioux Chapter of the Audubon Society.  He conducted a series of workshops on the environment at Stone State Park in 1976.  He also attended the dedication of the Carolyn Benne Nature Trail in Stone State Park in 1981.

Early Bird Outings  - Some of the first bird outings involved traveling from Sioux City. The first was a bus trip to DeSoto National Wildlife Refuge near Missouri Valley, Iowa in December, 1976.  Then acting president Brad Grier delegated the organization of this outing to Jerry Probst.  The outing was co-sponsored by LHAS and Area Education Agency 12 (now Northwest Iowa).  This trip was repeated each fall until this outing and others eventually evolved into carpooling. Another trip was later made by van to see Nebraska’s Sandhill Cranes.

LHAS Websites - Late 90’s to Present – LHAS’s initial foray into the world wide web was developed in 1997 with Randy Williams using the Avalon website platform.  The website contained information about the chapter, extensive reference materials and information from the National Audubon Society. A committee was formed to find a different website platform a few years later.  The committee consisted of Randy Williams, Chuck Johnson, Kay Koplin/Groth, and Jerry VonEhwegen.  This website was developed using Omnis and was maintained from 2002-2005 by Kay Koplin/Groth.  The website was again updated in 2005 using the Tripod platform and maintained by Jerry VonEhwegen until 2020.  A more modern website was developed in 2020 using Square Space with assistance from Samuel Castro, a Morningside College student.  Randy Williams has been the webmaster for this website since 2020.  Additional information was added about birding and the environment, on-going activities of related agencies and organizations and occasionally book reviews and articles from scientific journals.

The Siouxland Bird Guide Checklist and Map was compiled by T.J. Walker, Mark Brogie, Bill Huser, Jerry Probst and Bob Livermore in May, 2003. The Checklist also included a map of the northern Loess Hills landform which was produced by Golden Hills Resource Conservation and Development.  Birding areas and cultural features were added to the map through the work of a committee consisting of Bill and Dotty Zales, co-chairpersons, Bob Moritz, Chuck Johnson, Mary Cae Madden, Bill Huser and Jody Moats.

Audubon Adventures – Audubon Adventures is an environmental and educational curriculum created by the National Audubon Society for grades 3-5.  LHAS provided the Audubon Adventures handouts on birds, wildlife and their habitats to Sioux City teachers from 2001 to 2015.  Teacher contact as well as ordering and distributing materials was coordinated by Gary Heineman.  Audubon Adventures was discontinued in 2015 as teachers found they had less time available to them to use the handouts in their classrooms.

The Sioux City area has hosted, sponsored or held joint meetings with different organizations interested in birding over the years.  The Sioux City Bird Club would have been the predominant birding group involved in these meetings prior to 1980.  In 1935, Sioux City was the site for a joint meeting between the Nebraska Ornithologists’ Union (NOU) and the Iowa Ornithologists’ Union (IOU) and in 1961, for a meeting between IOU and the Bird Bander’s Association.  IOU held their annual meeting in Sioux City in 1963, 1978, 1987, 1997, 2007 and 2018 (see photos below).  In 1969, the IOU meeting was at West Okoboji Lake with local birders in attendance.  The NOU held its annual meeting in South Sioux City, Nebraska in 1993 while LHAS members hosted or led field trips in Iowa.  LHAS hosted three organizations – IOU, NOU, and the South Dakota Ornithologists’ Union (SDOU) in 1997

Recognition from National Audubon for chapter membership for 50 years. From left: Jerry VonEhwegen, Gary Heineman, Anne Shaner, Rex Rundquist, Bob Livermore, Jody Moats, Bill Zales, Maria Rundquist, and Dawn Snyder.

Sioux city chapter of the audubon society and Loess Hill Audubon Society presidents