Bye bye, birdies.
A vote by the board of directors of the Ogden Nature Center on Wednesday may put an end to the nonprofit's role in rehabilitating wild birds, leaving no such licensed organization in northern Utah.
The center currently takes in about 1,500 birds a year -- "everything from hummingbirds to eagles," explained one rehabilitation specialist. That's up considerably from years past, when it shared the responsibility with Salt Lake City's Tracy Aviary.
But Tracy ended its relationship with private bird rehabilitator Candy Carlson while working to regain accreditation by the Association of Zoos and Aquariums, which it lost in 2006. AZA rules ban such arrangements, Aviary director Tim Brown said.
That left the nature center as the only federally-licensed rehab facility in northern Utah that takes in all native birds. Now, citing budget constraints, the center is looking to cut the $55,000-a-year program.
"The Ogden Nature Center is not immune from the economic hardships being felt everywhere," said center spokeswoman Brandi Bosworth. She said the nonprofit is looking to cut about a fifth of its $500,000 annual operating budget and the rehab program will be "strongly considered" for cuts.
Those cuts would likely mean wildlife specialist DaLyn Erickson loses her job.
"I thought I'd found my calling," she said. "This is what I love, and I don't know what I'll do if I have to go. I'm kind of hoping for a miracle."
Erickson has been dealing in mini-miracles for seven years at the center. One came in the form of a duck shot 14 times with a pellet gun-- and the boy who wounded it.
Shortly after the duck was treated at the center, a new volunteer appeared -- a teenager who had been ordered to perform community service. "I asked him 'what for?' and he said, 'for shooting a duck,' and so immediately I knew who it was."
She and others made sure he spent as much time as possible working with other injured birds. "He wound up coming back the next year as a volunteer," she said. "And he still comes back and visits us and still thanks us."
Volunteer Buz Marthaler believes the board would be making a mistake to shut down the program -- not just for the good it's done for thousands of birds and the occasional errant youngster, but for the center itself. He believes the rehab program is one of the center's best outreach efforts because it brings in people who might not have been aware of it if they hadn't happened upon a wounded bird in the backyard, on a hike or while driving down the highway.
He's hoping that public support -- including offers of financial support -- might help the board "see the light" before its Wednesday night meeting.
Brown, the Salt Lake aviary director, noted that Tracy still takes calls about injured birds and often arranges for the delivery of the animals to Ogden. He meets every couple of months with rehab specialists in Utah to talk about what can be done to increase services.
"With Ogden in jeopardy of closing down its rehab services, that will make it even more challenging to decide how do we respond, as a community, to this," Brown said. "There's not a clear-cut solution here."
