Alaska WildBird Rehabilitation Center prepares to spread its wings

HOUSTON — Thanks in large part to many caring and generous individuals, businesses and organizations, Alaska WildBird Rehabilitation Center will celebrate the opening of its new facility in Houston with an open house and barbecue from 1 to 4 p.m., Sept. 7 on Birch Road off Kenlar in Houston.

The fun includes food, tours, wild birds and a book sale.

Once the rehab center is fully operational, it will not be open to the public, so this is an excellent opportunity to tour the facility and get an idea of what goes on behind the scenes in a wild bird rehab center.

One of the center’s long-range goals is the addition of a public education center to showcase the educational birds and share wild bird programs.

AWBRC is grateful to the city of Houston for the long-term lease of its new 25-acre site, which allows ample space for the clinic, mews (enclosures) of various sizes for rehabilitating birds and parking.

The nonprofit could not have accomplished so much so quickly without the help of many others, including the Big Lake Community Council and Matanuska Electric Association for grant funds to enclose the property with 8-foot security fencing for the birds’ safety; Pat Eder Architectural Design Co. for the overall site layout, design and building considerations; Tew’s Inc. for all the groundwork at the premises; and Alaska GoldStar Plumbing and Heating for the clinic plumbing.

The generous financial and in-kind contributions of these fine community members and businesses have enabled the center to complete the first step toward its mission of providing care for Alaska’s sick, injured and orphaned wild birds, with the goal of returning them to the wild and educating the public about one of Alaska’s most wonderful wild resources — its birds and their habitats.

While the center is grateful to its amazing group of dedicated volunteers whose hard work has made this project possible, volunteers are still needed to help build or re-build mews and various other tasks to make the clinic fully functional. Carpentry skills would be particularly useful, but any help will be greatly appreciated.

For more information or to volunteer, call 892-2927 and leave a message.