Success Stories

Rachel Carson and Silent Spring

2020 - Rachel Carson’s 1962 book, Silent Spring, focused public scrutiny on the immense environmental damage resulting from uncontrolled use of synthetic pesticides and herbicides -- DDT and others. The book brought to light the horrific chemical assault on nature -- with deadly effects not just on wildlife but also on human health. Silent Spring helped found the modern environmental movement. There’s more to the story!

Corbin Klaft - A Friend to the Birds

2012 - Corbin Klaft has a birdfeeder outside his bedroom window. "I want to see the birds, how they hunt and perch, what they do with their feet. The birds come and eat, and I try to identify them." Corbin has an idea for a birdhouse, too. "I'm going to make a regular bird house and then put a shield with a hole in it that predators can't get in." What's one of the best things about watching birds from your room? "It's experiencing nature but not scaring them away!" Hear his full story

 

Rita Shultz: Friend of Bluebirds

2013 - Rita Shultz, a rural mail carrier, says, "Every person's yard is an important bird area!" When Rita discovered that Eastern Bluebirds were nesting in some of the newspaper delivery boxes on her route – and that many customers were throwing the nests out – she went into high gear. Rita asked all the people on her route if she could put up bluebird boxes on their property. More than half of them agreed! Hear her full story

Landowners Help Endangered Birds

2012 - Habitat is nearly always critical for birds. For this endangered Greater Sage-Grouse, it comes down to preserving stands of healthy sagebrush. And essential to saving habitat is the cooperation of landowners. Recently, Rob Wesselman and his family placed 1100 acres of their land – home to Greater Sage-Grouse – into a federal conservation program called State Acres for Wildlife Enhancement, or SAFE. Hear their full story

Chuck Pettis: Earth Sanctuary

2009 - At a place called Earth Sanctuary on Whidbey Island in Washington State, Osprey and Song Sparrows raise their young. Swainson’s Thrushes and Yellow Warblers find a welcome refuge when they return from South and Central America. Wood Duck young have a safe place to grow. Chuck Pettis is creating this sanctuary. Chuck’s goal is to create an old-growth forest, so he’s looking ahead 500 years. Hear his full story

Mark Borden and the Swallows

2010 - Mark Borden of Whidbey Island has invited Violet-green and Tree Swallows to nest in his fence. Why? Originally, it was to control the insects on his horse farm. He once watched as a horse fly flew across the pasture. In came a Tree Swallow, and phwapp! It grabbed that fly! So he built a nestbox out of a leftover piece of horse-fence. Within a day, a pair of swallows moved into it. Mark then figured out how to put a nestbox in a post. Bring on the swallows! Hear his full story