Cedar City » Martin Tyner estimates he has nursed more than 2,000 injured birds of prey back to health and returned them to the wilds of southern Utah.
Not bad for someone who early in life had an intense fear of birds.
"I'd be outside, see a sparrow and go screaming into the house terrified," said Tyner, founder and CEO of the Southwest Wildlife Foundation in Cedar City.
That fear was a result of being bit on the finger by a parakeet when he was 1 year old. He credits his grandmother with helping him deal with the fear by getting him a pet pigeon, creating a life-long fascination with all wild critters.
Tyner said he spent much of his childhood in Simi Valley, Calif., roaming the hills looking for animals. "I always had my pockets full of snakes and lizards," he said.
Once, to impress his fourth-grade teacher, he captured about 50 green tree frogs for the class terrarium project.
"The teacher told me to put them in the terrarium even though it didn't have a cover, so the frogs were soon crawling up the classroom walls and across the ceiling," said Tyner. "One of the frogs fell in a girl's hair and soon they were all raining off the ceiling, forcing the teacher to clear the classroom. Everyone got a whole day recess except for me, who had to catch all the frogs. I made an impression all right, but not a good one."
By the time he was 16, Tyner was learning falconry with a kestrel hawk, and in 1975, was hired by Busch Gardens in Van Nuys, Calif., as curator of its birds of prey. It was there that he learned how to rehabilitate injured birds, he said.
When the park closed in 1978, he moved to Cedar City with his wife, Susan, opened a pet store and dog grooming operation and began taking in injured or orphaned animals, mostly such birds of prey as hawks, eagles, falcons and owls.
After nursing them back to health, Tyner releases them to the wild, usually surrounded by curious residents. Birds that are beyond hope of surviving are humanely euthanized, he said.
Bonnie Bell, a special agent with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service in Cedar City, praised Tyner's work, which requires state and federal licenses that aren't easy to get.
"He is very responsive and qualified to do what he does," said Bell. "He has a good success rate and a goodness of heart necessary to take these wild animals and care for them."
The couple have two grown children who, when they were younger, participated in a family project of raising service dogs for the blind.
Tyner also travels throughout Utah and the West with his pet golden eagle Scout (which he is licensed to keep), conducting presentations on the importance of wildlife and the environment. He also brings the bird to courts of honor for Boy Scouts being awarded their Eagle badges.
In the early 1990s, Tyner closed his pet store to focus full-time on caring for the animals and raising money for the nonprofit foundation. His long-term goal is establishing a nature park with a visitor center, museum and enclosed habitat for animals whose injuries prevent them from being returned to the wild. That dream got a significant boost in 2000, when Scottish Power, parent company of then Utah Power, donated 23 acres of prime real estate at the mouth of Cedar Canyon in Cedar City for the park.
Tyner said he still needs $10 million to complete the park and is working on obtaining grants and donations.
"I want a place for kids to come to instead of going home after school and playing video games," said Tyner. "I want a place where they can have the opportunity I had to experience the outdoors."
Tyner said his project is based on the Sonoran Desert Museum outside Tucson, Ariz., which attracts 500,000 visitors a year and enriches the area economy by $50 million annually. He believes his park could offer a similar economic boon for Cedar City.
Roger Chambers, president of the foundation's eight-member board of directors, said the biggest challenge the organization faces is attracting volunteer grant writers. "He's doing a great thing for the city," said Chambers. "We just want to get him the help he needs to accomplish his vision."
Cedar City Mayor Gerald Sherratt is supportive of Tyner's plan, but hasn't offered financial help.
"We'd like to give him some tax money, but have so little just to maintain the parks we have," he said. "[Tyner] has some terrific ideas and there's no question it will bring people to the city."
In addition to fundraising, caring for animals and traveling, Tyner and his wife have collaborated on a book about their work. Healer of Angel s, published by Amethyst Moon Publishing, is due out at the end of September.
Susan Tyner has never doubted her husband's dream will be realized.
"It's like Martin says," she said. "You never fail unless you quit."
