We know that the money has traditionally come from the rod and gun people. We're definitely very conscious of the contribution the hunters and fishermen have made, and we want to emphasize that.

There's the sense that birders have to pick up the tab, and the question is how to do it. You can't really sell licenses to look at birds, although we have talked about parking passes and we have discussed a birder's pass.

The birding community is generally supportive of this sort of thing, and there's been a lot of discussion among us lately about whether this is enough. There's the understanding that fishing and hunting dollars have paid for an awful lot of habitat improvement, but overall, hunting and fishing people are declining in numbers.

This is an unprecedented event that allows for raising some serious money for such an important resource as the library and also brings great regional attention to our area.

Initially, we're all emotional about it, and therefore much more willing to put the money up to take care of the immediate emergency,

It barely opened anywhere! They didn't put any money behind it at all.