Press Release:

The McKinleyville Land Trust announced that it will hold its 11th Annual Dinner at Azalea Hall on Saturday, March 31, 2012, from 5:30 PM to 8 PM. This year’s guest speaker is Ted Weller, a US Forest Service ecologist who is an expert on bats.

Mr. Weller has worked with bats since 1996 and has published dozens of papers on them in peer-reviewed scientific literature. He said his work with bats has largely focused on improving methods to inventory and monitor their populations. His most recent paper, an outgrowth of this work, uses echolocation monitoring of bats to predict their presence at wind energy facilities. Ted conducts annual workshops training biologists to study bats including recent workshops in Nicaragua and Paraguay.

His work to uncover patterns of bat activity and behavior on the North Coast is the subject of his talk: “Bats in Our Midst: Studying their Ecology and Behavior on the North Coast of California.”

Mr. Weller, holds a B.S. in mechanical engineering from UC Santa Barbara and an M.S. in wildlife biology from HSU, where his work focused on the roosting ecology of the fringed myotis bat. He is currently an ecologist with the US Forest Service, Pacific Southwest Research Station (Redwood Science Lab) in Arcata.

The McKinleyville Land Trust invites the public to attend its annual fundraiser, featuring wine-by-the-glass, a silent auction and raffle, and a choice of chicken cacciatore or vegetarian pasta with baked eggplant – both with locally made Tomaso’s sauce. Dinner includes a mixed green salad, bread from the North Coast Co-op Bakery, coffee or tea, and locally made dessert.

Dinner tickets are available at the door: $20 for adults, $15 for seniors and students, and $10 for kids under 12. The evening begins at 5:30 PM with a silent auction preview, and wine-by-the glass will be sold separately. Dinner will be served at 6 PM, and the guest speaker’s presentation will begin at 7 PM. For more information, please call 839-LAND or email: info@mlandtrust.org

The McKinleyville Land Trust is a nonprofit, tax-exempt, public benefit corporation. The MLT promotes voluntary conservation for nature, timber, agriculture, recreation and open space. In addition to conservation easements that are on private lands, the MLT owns Mad River Bluffs, 75 acres of trails and bluffs at the western end of Hiller Road, Chah-GAH-Cho, a 12-acre parcel behind the Mill Creek Shopping Center, and the Dow’s Prairie Educational Wetland on Grange Road.