Recognition Ceremony Held on May 19th

On 19 May 2007, as part of the Tawas Point Birding Festival, Tawas Point State Park & Tawas Bay were recognized as an IBA. The site was recognized not for its significance to birding, but to bird conservation. In particular, the site is a valuable concentration point for thousands of migrating waterbirds, shorebirds, and landbirds. Detailed site accounts (for this and the other 21 IBAs) are available at Audubon's IBA Program website.

Representatives in attendance of the ceremony included State Representative Joel Sheltrown (103rd District), Beverly Bodem (representing State Senator Tony Stamas), Michigan DNR staff Charles Allen and Anna Sylvester, and former Michigan Audubon Society President Peg Ridgway. An IBA sign was erected near the Tawas Point lighthouse during the ribbon-cutting.
From left to right: Charles Allen, Beverly Bodem (assistant to State Senator Tony Stamas), Caleb Putnam, Peg Ridgway, State Representative Joel Sheltrown, and Anna Sylvester.