Stevens point journal – opinion
Friday, April 30, 2004

The Raptor Education Group International has been patching up birds of prey and sending them back into the wild for almost 15 years.

Last year, Marge Gibson spent nearly two months measuring the recovery of Whiting, a male osprey found floundering in August near his fishing spot on the Green Circle trail in Whiting. The bird had been illegally shot.

Gibson helped to slowly nurse him back to health, like she does for so many birds from throughout the state. Whiting was released back into its habitat on the Plover River in late September.

Gibson's brainchild has helped thousands of birds recover from injuries, diseases and gunshot wounds. She's branched out, over the years, to help nonraptors. Her Antigo facility now is home to a turkey that follows her around like a puppy and a pair of rambunctious ravens.

But it's the majestic bald eagles, the haunting owls and beautiful native hawks that stir passions and require lots of wing room. Many of Gibson's rehab birds are healthy but can't make it on their own. REGI is their permanent home.

And the nonprofit REGI is running out of room in which the birds can spread their wings, which has prompted Gibson to consider a move to Marathon County.

She needs two things to set up operations in central Wisconsin, where about 60 percent of her calls to rescue birds originate and where Gibson thinks she can educate more people.

The first is land, preferably a 40-acre parcel that is partially wooded. Gibson envisions her rehab center as something of a nature park, in which visitors can stroll among pens of recovering birds while eating lunch or simply stretching their legs.

That's a tall order, as anyone who recently has tried to buy rural property around here well knows. But someone out there has a 40 and uses it only for deer hunting nine days each year. Donate it or give Gibson's group a long-term lease, and hunting privileges can be arranged.

The second thing REGI needs is a sponsor. And that's where ordinary central Wisconsin residents can make a difference.

Service clubs and other organizations routinely adopt charities and special-needs groups as their fund-raising beneficiaries.

Gibson needs a service club to adopt her, perhaps one that is interested in ongoing education or the environment.

Educational efforts and environmentalists both benefit greatly from REGI's work, but neither is paying all of Gibson's bills.

Nor is the Department of Natural Resources, which has designated REGI as the clinic for almost all injured raptors in Wisconsin. But the state doesn't give Gibson a penny.

She depends entirely upon donations - donations of cash, time and the unpleasant grub upon which her birds depend, including dead rats and mice and stillborn calves. Overall, it costs about $250 a day to maintain REGI, feed the birds, travel to rescue them and pay other expenses.

Gibson's refuge could become much more than a haven for birds. It could be central Wisconsin's next tourism destination, one that would attract nature-lovers and environmentalists. Visitors to the Leigh Yawkey Woodson Art Museum's "Birds in Art" exhibit could go straight from the paintings to see the real things.

Whether they went on to visit Stevens Point, Wausau, Rib Mountain or even Marshfield, central Wisconsin would benefit.

That's what makes Gibson the ideal beneficiary of a regional effort by service clubs or other organizations to adopt REGI.

Gibson isn't picky. She needs some land and a group to take her under its wing, so to speak.

If you can help, she would love to hear from you at 715-623-4015.

Our View reflects the opinion of the Journal's Editorial Board