STRUCTURE, POLICY and PROCEDURES
of the RRF CONSERVATION COMMITTEE
Purpose and Structure
1. The purpose of the RRF Conservation Committee is to prepare and disseminate written communications on contemporary issues of conservation concern involving birds of prey that usefully lend the RRF’s scientific expertise and credibility to resolution of the conservation issue.
2. The RRF Conservation Committee shall consist of a chairperson (including the possibility of two or more co-chairs) and a network of regional committee members who will be identified by the chairperson(s). The regional committee members will be informed of and will agree to abide by these guidelines before being officially assigned to the committee.
Current committee chair: James Dwyer
Procedures
1. Regional committee members will be responsible for collecting scientific and other related information on conservation issues involving birds of prey that pertain to their particular region. Such information may come from the general public, other raptor-focused organizations, other organizations, or may be brought forward by the regional committee members.
2. When an issue is brought forward, regional committee members will inform the chairperson(s) about the issue and nature of the request to RRF, and present the scientific and other information in a concise and complete report for evaluation by the chairperson(s).
3. The Conservation Committee chairperson(s) will review and assess the nature of such information and request, and determine if a response by RRF is appropriate. The chairperson(s) may accept the request, reject the request if it is deemed inappropriate, or if necessary, the chairperson(s) will ask the regional committee members for additional information from the submitting organization about a submitted issue, before deciding about the need for and nature of a response.
4. The regional committee member(s) will assemble additional information as needed and resubmit to the chairperson(s).
5. Upon receipt of satisfactory information about the issue, the Conservation Committee chairperson(s) will have ultimate responsibility for preparing and disseminating the written communications in response to these issues. The chairperson(s) may request help in preparing these communications from the regional committee member.
6. The communications prepared by the committee chairperson(s) will be presented to the Board of Directors for approval.
7. Subsequent to approval of the communications by the Board, the chairperson(s) will disseminate the communications to the requesting organization and other appropriate recipients, and post the communications to the RRF website.
Policy
1. RRF’s purpose in operating a Conservation Committee and in preparing written communications on contemporary issues involving birds of prey is to provide objective, high-quality scientific information to decision makers.
2. RRF’s communications may take the form of “white papers,” resolutions, or letters.
3. RRF may initiate communications in response to a request from others, or upon its own initiative.
4. RRF will prepare its own communications, rather than endorsing or signing communications developed by others. However, RRF may partner with other scientific organizations to evaluate issues involving birds of prey.
5. RRF will base its communications upon expert, scientific evaluation of relevant scientific information, never upon values or any philosophy of risk management.
6. RRF will always acknowledge when scientific information is insufficient to inform a decision involving birds of prey and may choose to identify research needed to fill information gaps.
7. In its communications, RRF may choose to compare or state the likely outcome(s) of different courses of action, based on an evaluation of relevant scientific information. However, RRF will not recommend or condemn any specific course of action that may be under consideration by decision makers or proposed by others. RRF will never take or communicate a position on any proposed law, rule or regulation.
8. The RRF Board will approve all communications prepared by the Conservation Committee. All communications will be signed by the RRF President or her/his designee, following approval by the RRF Board.
9. When evaluating an issue involving birds of prey, the Conservation Committee will seek the expertise and assistance of knowledgeable scientists, both RRF members and others.
10. At no time will the Conservation Committee chairperson(s) or the regional committee members act upon or respond to an issue without approval by the RRF Board.
11. Exceptions to these policy and procedures must be approved by the RRF Board.