Update: On February 1, 2024, our membership voted to approve amending our new name to Southern Wisconsin Bird Alliance. Read more about this process at swibirds.org/new-name.
Bald Eagle by Mick Thompson
As you may know, our board recently decided to amend our Bird Alliance name by replacing "Badgerland" with another geographic descriptor.
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!
This name change requires a membership vote to authorize a legal name change with the state of Wisconsin. Members in good standing as of Jan. 1, 2024 are eligible to vote in the special members-only meeting on Feb. 1, 7:00pm on Zoom.
How did we come to this name?
This is where we work, and where our greatest collective impact is!
We are proud to be a part of the growing number of chapters joining the Bird Alliance, and we remain committed to that part of our name. Together, with Bird Alliance chapters in Chicago, Detroit, San Francisco, and beyond, this network’s conservation efforts will ensure that more people, today and in the future, can experience the joy of birds.
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.”
Our chapter area covers 10 southern Wisconsin counties, including Adams, Columbia, Dane, Dodge, Green Lake, Iowa, Jefferson, Marquette, Richland, and Sauk counties.
Our sanctuaries are located in three counties in southern Wisconsin: Columbia, Jefferson, and Rock.
Some of our strongest outreach programs, such as Bald Eagle Nest Watch and the Kestrel Nest Box Monitoring Program, are done throughout southern Wisconsin and even beyond!
Birds move and migrate in expansive ways, and the conservation efforts we do with you and many partners have a broad and far-reaching impacts—in southern Wisconsin and well beyond.
What due diligence was done?
We once again completed an exhaustive list of checks and reviews, including but not limited to:
A review of the Wisconsin Department of Financial Institutions and US Patent and Trademark Office for similar names.
Internet and social media searches for similar sounding names and acronyms.
Consultation with legal counsel about intellectual property or trademarks.
Outreach to other chapters, organizations, and groups in southern Wisconsin, including those who share “Southern Wisconsin” in their names (i.e., Audubon chapters in southern Wisconsin, Southern Wisconsin Butterfly Association, etc.).
What did we find?
Through all of this research, feedback, and discussion with members, partners, and volunteers, we are confident in moving forward with a membership vote on this name.
If you have any other questions or concerns, please contact our office at info@madisonaudubon.org. We hope members will join us on February 1 to help this organization move past this issue, and get back to what we all love: bird conservation!
Sincerely,
BBA board of directors
