Originally posted in the Finger Lakes Times by David L. Shaw

December 7, 2014

The Montezuma Audubon Center is the beneficiary of a $100,000 donation from Dr. Brewster C. Doust Jr. of Skaneateles.

The money will be used to establish the George and Judy Weems Foundation, an endowment to help support the MAC activities for children and families.

Doust, a physician specializing in internal medicine, is a regular visitor to the Route 89 facility. The Weems, his cousins fromLexington, Ky., are avid bird watchers.

“Audubon New York is inspiring future stewards of our planet,” Doust said. “I was personally moved by the MAC’s water, fields and forests and how the center uses these habitats to light the spark in children.”

He said the Weems Fund will support MAC programs that engage children and families in conservation activities for the benefit of birds and other wildlife.

Passionate about the MAC’s habitat restoration work, Doust said he was inspired to give to help the center expand its work as a valuable community resource and environmental education center through school field trips, family activities and Scouting programs.

“Dr. Doust’s generous gift ensures that the MAC will continue to serve as the conservation hub for the Montezuma Wetlands Complex,” MAC Director Chris Lajewski said. “Spanning 50,000 acres, the complex serves as a critical resting area for hundreds of thousands of ducks, geese and swans during the spring and fall migrations. We also have one of the largest populations of breeding Cerulean Warblers in the state.

“The Weems Fund will enable the MAC to engage children and families in important conservation projects that remove invasive species, plant native vegetation and conduct wildlife surveys.”

Audubon New York operates the MAC on behalf of the state Department of Environmental Conservation as a year-round nature center. It offers education programs, two miles of trails and exhibit on its 198 acres.