Ogden » DaLyn Erickson has a card showing her new title -- executive director -- and a new organization -- Wildlife Rehabilitation Center of Northern Utah -- but she lacks what she and thousands of injured birds need most: a new home.

"We have the people, the know-how and the equipment. We just have nowhere to land!" a frustrated Erickson said earlier this month as the deadline for leaving the Ogden Nature Center loomed.

The nature center's board decided earlier this year that, given budget constraints, the center should focus on its core mission: nature education. That means the wild bird rehab program, which last year saw a 30 percent increase in demand, must move.

Last year, of the 1,572 injured birds taken to the center, 940 were healed and released back into the wild.

Volunteers are scrambling for donations to kickstart the new nonprofit, Wildlife Rehabilitaiton Center of Northern Utah, and to find a building, preferably in the Ogden area, by June 30.

"We need to make this work," Erickson said.

Volunteer Michelle Groncki said it will be a shame if children no longer have a place to take injured robins or owls.

"It means so much to them ... to know someone else cares," Groncki said. "We teach that compassion and animals matter."

-- Kristen Moulton