Registration for this event closed at 5:00pm CT on Feb. 1.
On February 1, at a special members-only meeting held on Zoom, we will discuss and vote on the proposed amendment to our new name that replaces the geographic descriptor of where we work.
Thank you to our members for providing so many wonderful name suggestions! After careful, comprehensive, and diligent review by our name selection committee, staff, and board, we are proposing the following name to our members for their vote…
Southern Wisconsin Bird Alliance
We are excited that this name brings together our thousands of members that live not only in Madison, but also in Richland Center, Dodgeville, Sauk City, Baraboo, Beaver Dam, Lake Mills, Fort Atkinson, Stoughton, Mount Horeb, and everywhere in between!
Members who are in good standing as of January 1, 2024 are eligible to vote. Register by scrolling down and clicking the registration button.
Why the change?
Our name, and the process to develop it, was intended to be inclusive and welcoming—we completed recommended due diligence, which included consulting with legal counsel to ensure that our new name was unique, appropriate, and usable, resulting in a successful legal name change to Badgerland Bird Alliance in the state of Wisconsin at the end of September.
In November, another group claimed a perceived similarity between our name and theirs could cause confusion in the birding community.
Although our Board of Directors is confident in the rigor and integrity of the name selection process we underwent, this is a problem we did not foresee or intend to create, and it is one we do not wish to perpetuate. To ensure that our focus remains on our mission-related work to protect birds, the Board voted in mid-December to amend our Bird Alliance name by selecting a new geographic descriptor.
Over the past few weeks, we have been working hard to identify, consider, vet, and review alternative geographic descriptors to go with our Bird Alliance name. Our Name Selection Committee reconvened to review geographic descriptor options submitted over the last year, and consider new ones. We also asked for membership input on geography terms for our Bird Alliance and more than a 1/3 of suggestions were for “Southern Wisconsin.”
Per our bylaws and Wisconsin state statutes, an approval vote by membership will authorize the board to make the necessary legal changes to our organizational name—and move our shared work forward.
Only the name Southern Wisconsin Bird Alliance will be on the Feb. 1 ballot. If the new name is not approved, we will need to defer action until consensus can be reached on another term to replace Badgerland in our Bird Alliance organizational name.
Registration information
Registration is required and limited to members only. Members must be in good standing (donated $20+ between January 1, 2023 and January 1, 2024) to be eligible to vote.
Households with two members will need to each register separately and join the meeting from separate devices to allow us to count two votes.
Registration is required by 5:00pm on February 1, 2024.
Registration is reviewed by BBA staff and manually approved, so you will receive information on how to join the meeting within 1 business day of registering.
Email info@madisonaudubon.org for accommodation requests.
Photo by Grayson Smith/USFWS
