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Update: SALT LAKE CITY, Utah (AP) -- Like one of the feathered friends it helps, the bird rehabilitation program at the Ogden Nature Center is going out on its own. The center's board of directors -- looking to trim roughly 20 percent of its budget -- decided Wednesday that it will provide $12,000 for the bird program to transition into its own entity and raise its own money.
The bird program helps nearly 1,000 birds a year that are injured by cars, wildlife or have other health problems.
Rumors that it might close because of a budget shortfall brought dozens of volunteers to the board's meeting Wednesday night.
The nonprofit nature center's $500,000 annual budget is being pinched because of a reduction in charitable giving, says Special Projects Coordinator Brandi Bosworth.
(Copyright 2009 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)
John Hollenhorst
The economic crisis is about to claim thousands more victims in Utah, and all of them have feathers. A popular program for rehabilitating injured birds is on the chopping block at a meeting about to get underway.
The director of the Ogden Nature Center is recommending shutdown of the bird rehab program because of fierce economic pressures. If the board of directors goes along with it, many injured birds could be left without a safe harbor.
When an injured heron needed help, bird lovers took it to the Ogden Nature Center for a quick repair job and re-release into the wild.
"I came here just to volunteer, but the birds grabbed me. They grabbed me by the heart," bird rehabilitator Buz Marthaler said.
Whether it was a bird with a broken bone or an orphan that needed a nourishing meal, volunteers rehabbed 1,500 birds last year that were in trouble. "Car hits, cat attacks, window hits, people shooting them, etcetera," Marthaler said.
But the center's director says its primary function is nature displays and outdoor education, not bird rehabilitation. "It probably fits our mission the least of everything we do," director Mary McKinley said.
She wants to suspend the rehab program and downsize other activities. The nature center budget is hurting. "We have to make some cuts. We have to shrink the organization," McKinley said. "Many foundations have told us they don't know how much they can support us in the coming year or two."
Some defenders of the program say it fell out of favor with management because it's messy and ugly and doesn't make a pretty picture for visitors. "It's dirty, stinky, nasty work, but I think the good that comes from it overpowers that," Marthaler said.
McKinley says she and the staff support rehabbing, they just can't afford it. If the board does shut it down, that would leave northern Utah without a major bird rehab program.
Though there is a move afoot to create a facility in Salt Lake, in the current climate, raising funds will be a real challenge.
E-mail: jhollenhorst@ksl.com
