The North Fork Preservation Association Annual Meeting is coming up soon — Saturday, July 30 — with some significant administrative changes to discuss and a very interesting presentation in the queue.

At the January board of directors meeting it was decided to add two new board member positions (an increase from nine to eleven) as a way of introducing new blood without losing board experience. This is a change to the bylaws requiring a vote of the members at the annual meeting on July 30th. Volunteers wanted. If you would like to be on the board or know someone who should be on the board, please let us know.

This year’s featured speaker is Charlie Russell, the son of famed Albertan outfitter/writer Andy Russell. Charlie, besides writing several earlier books on grizzly bears, is also famous for adopting three orphaned cubs from a Russian zoo that were destined to die because they were outgrowing their cage. These were the first of many orphaned grizzly cubs that Charlie taught to live in the wilds of a very remote part of Russia. He has a book and a DVD, Grizzly Heart, telling about his successes in living with the bears in Russia. The premise he wanted to prove was that grizzly bears are not naturally aggressive and mean, but may become so if their only experience with humans is always aggressiveness and meanness towards them.

The annual meeting will be held on Saturday, July 30 at Sondreson Hall. The potluck starts at 5:00 p.m. with the business meeting and elections beginning at around 6:30 p.m. Charlie’s talk begins at 7:30 p.m.