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EARTH DAY
Official Site of International Earth Day www.earthsite.org
Earth Day, celebrated on the Spring or Vernal Equinox, is the most significant day of the year, because people from all nations, backgrounds, races, colors, religions, and all other human-made barriers celebrate their similarities: living on Earth.
How do you celebrate Earth Day?
Good and Plenty Foundation celebrates the advent of spring each year in Sebastian, Florida, which is the home of Pelican Island and located on the glorious southeast Treasure Coast of Florida. Pelican Island has a fascinating history but has recently been ravaged by three hurricanes. Restoration and preservation efforts are ongoing.
The Pelican Island Wildlife Festival is held annually Sebastian's Riverview Park.
This festival celebrates Pelican Island and the National Wildlife Refuge's birthday. In 2007, it marked the 104th anniversary of the National Wildlife Refuge.
PELICAN ISLAND FACTS: DID YOU KNOW?
Pelican Island acquired its fame at the turn of the century from the wildlife photographers and naturalists who visited the area. Many of these people were disturbed by the slaughter of countless pelicans, herons, egrets, and other birds by plume hunters. A local resident, Paul Kroegel, who cared about the pelicans on the island became the staunch protector and enlisted the support of noted ornithologists, such as Frank Chapman, who helped establish the Audubon Societies.
At the urging of Mr. Kroegel, the Florida Audubon Society, and the American Ornithologists' Union, President Theodore Roosevelt signed an Executive Order on March 14, 1903 that permanently set aside the three-acre island as a wildlife sanctuary; and made Pelican Island the first National Wildlife Refuge. Since then, the National Wildlife Refuge system has grown to become the world's largest network of lands managed for wildlife with over 500 refuges totaling over 93 million acres.
-- To learn more about this historic US Fish & Wildlife National Wildlife Refuge System, visit the Pelican Island Preservation Society at http://www.pelicanislandfriends.org/index.htm
EARTH DAY FACTS: DID YOU KNOW?
EARTH DAY and the EARTH DAY PROCLAMATION - 1969-1970
In working to elevate individual and international support for stewardship of Earth, at the 1969 National UNESCO Conference in San Francisco , Mr. McConnell proposed an Earth Day -- to celebrate Earth's life and beauty and to alert earthlings to the need for preserving and renewing the threatened ecological balances upon which all life on Earth depends.
In September of 1969, Mr. McConnell proposed Earth Day to the San Francisco Board of Supervisors. The proposal won strong support and was followed by an Earth Day Proclamation by the City of San Francisco. The idea, supported by U. N. Secretary General U Thant, Margaret Mead and many others, spread worldwide. The ringing of the United Nations Peace Bell at the moment of the March Equinox on Earth Day has become a tradition.
On his return to New York, John McConnell wrote an Earth Day Proclamation for worldwide use. It incorporated rights and responsibilities of Earth's people in the care of their planet. It was signed by U. N. Secretary General U Thant, Margaret Mead, John Gardner and other concerned world leaders. Since then, others have added their signatures to show support for its objectives. (Current total: 39) Most recent signatures are those of Yasir Arafat, Yehudi Menuhin and Cosmonaut Anatoli Berezevoi, leaving space for one more signature.
Mr. McConnell instigated and was co-producer of a WOR-TV 12 Hour Special, called E-Day '72. Carried whole or in part by over 60 stations, the program was an extensive study of environment, featuring national and international ecology experts, and won many awards. At that time Mr. McConnell started using the term "Earth Trustee" to define people who were seeking to make choices in their daily life that would benefit nature and society.
-- To learn more about International Earth Day and become an EARTH TRUSTEE, please visit the official site at http://www.earthsite.org | 
