CHANGES TO MEMBERSHIP FEES: J. Dan McAskill

Approximately two years ago, the Natural History Society of Prince Edward Island was advised that the joint printing arrangement with the Department of Tourism and Parks would be discontinued. This arrangement allowed the Parks Division to print the back cover of the newsletter to pass along news on P.E.I. Parks special events to Society members as well as schools throughout the Island in exchange for free printing of the newsletter. The Society provided the editorial work for the newsletter, compiled and recorded bird sightings to allow updating of the checklist, participated in ecotourism promotional and training events, and distributed the newsletter to schools and other environmental groups. Thus both parties gained from the arrangement and the costs were minimal to each. However, in 1992, the Parks Division withdrew its financial support and the Society was charged the costs of production and mailing of the newsletter on a cost recovery basis. This forced the Society to review the arrangement and subsequently increase the membership costs to $ 12 per year to allow distribution of the newsletters to members (approximately 180), schools (75), other environmental groups (25), and those interested in joining the Society.

This spring, the Department of Economic Development and Tourism advised the Society that changes in the access to the Queens Printer’s had limited the number of copies each department can have made. Thus, the Natural History Society of Prince Edward Island lost access to printing through the Queen’s Printer’s Office. Exploration of the costs at private printers showed that the costs of production doubled. The cost breakdown for printing of the newsletter is now:

Description Double-sided printing of

3 pages 6 pages 8 pages Printing $ .610 $ 1.130 ‘ $ 1.507 NHS Printed Envelope . 161 . 161 . 161 Label .010 .010 .010 Stamp .460 .738 .738 Total $ 1.241 $ 2.039 $ 2.416

To continue producing the newsletter in its current format of 14 to 16 pages per issue, the actual cost for member's copies alone would be $ 14.50. This converts to an actual cost per member of slightly over S 22 when the cost of printing and distribution to schools, the environmental newsletter exchange, and promotional copies are included. Clearly, as the present membership fees of the Society are $ 12, the Society had to re-evaluate the entire system of production, distribution, and membership fees.

The first step in this task was an evaluation of the necessary changes in the system for the 1994 membership year as these are the present costs. Thus, the schools throughout the province who have received the Island Naturalist free were sent a questionnaire with

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