Society of Tympanuchus Cupido Pinnatus establishes fund with the Foundation to protect Wisconsin's birds
The Natural Resources Foundation of Wisconsin has established a new
endowment fund for bird conservation in the state, thanks to the Society of
Tympanuchus Cupido Pinnatus, Ltd. When STCP dissolved last year, its board
wanted to distribute part of the organization's remaining assets in such a
way that would continue in the spirit of the group's mission. They have now
used those funds to establish the Wisconsin Bird Fund-A Legacy Fund of the
Society of Tympanuchus Cupido Pinnatus, Ltd. with the Foundation.
"The Foundation is honored to help carry forth the Society's venerable
conservation legacy through this important fund," said Camille Zanoni,
development director for the Natural Resources Foundation of Wisconsin. "The
Fund will make a measurable difference for Wisconsin's birds, at a time when
nearly half of our native birds are in decline due to habitat loss and other
threats."
The Wisconsin Bird Fund will support qualified organizations for programs
and projects that protect and conserve birds that breed, migrate or winter
in Wisconsin. Specifically, the endowment fund will support projects and
programs that emphasize education, habitat restoration and research. In
addition to starting an endowment fund with the Foundation, the board of
directors of the Society of Tympanuchus Cupido Pinnatas contributed the
majority of its endowment and all of its research to the George Mitsch
Sutton Avian Research Center in Bartlesville, Oklahoma.
"We felt an obligation to our 60-plus year legacy to take a small part of
our endowment and sustain a presence in Wisconsin and by establishing The
Wisconsin Bird Fund with a $170,000 contribution, we accomplished that,"
said Peter Ziegler, president of the Society's board of directors. "We
selected the Foundation because they were a natural vehicle to provide us
the necessary administration and source of contacts and ideas for the
programs and projects we want to support. The Foundation also showed a
strong desire to make our partnership work."
The Society of Tympanuchus Cupido Pinnatus, Ltd. was founded in 1961 and was
based out of Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Before it dissolved in 2015, it was the
oldest conservation organization dedicated to conserving and restoring
native prairie grouse populations. In recent years, the society had shifted
to focus on prairie grouse populations across North America.