2015 Annual Report of American Heritage Wildlife Foundation

AMERICAN HERITAGE WILDLIFE FOUNDATION  2015 ANNUAL REPORT

                                                 

American Heritage Wildlife Foundation has the mission to conserve local wildlife through the efforts of rehabilitation of the injured or orphaned and community education. We are a 501c3 nonprofit organization and a registered state nonprofit incorporation. AHWF holds federal rehabilitation permits from the US Fish and Wildlife Service for all migratory bird species and Idaho State Fish and Game rehabilitation permits for all species of birds and small non-game mammals. This fall, permission was granted to allow AHWF to provide care for large game mammals once enclosures are constructed. We do not receive federal, state or county funding. We exist only because of community support.                 

2015 AHWF budget

EXPENSES:                  

  proposed  &  actual

     300              390      Fund Raising (including merchandise)

     543              716      Marketing

     960            1,676     Utilities

  4,000           9,740      Animal Care & Educational Mission  

  4,500           7,500      Large Flight Barn  

20,000                0        Nature Trail*                                                                                 

60,000                0        Classroom & Educational Items* 

2015

REVENUE:  

 1,750               6,002   Memberships & Merchandise       

 1,800                2,477   Event (donations) and Aluminum recycling & other programs                  

 3,500              12,112   Donations and Grants

80,000                  325   Phase III Funding* (raised to date)   

                          1,800   In-Kind contributions (excluding labor)   

I would like to express extreme gratitude to everyone that supported AHWF in the 2015 calendar year. Because of your contributions of time, treasure and talents, this year was our most successful to date.

WILDLIFE

By December 31, our total number of phone calls will be over 315. This is roughly 100 calls more than average.   The total number of cases = 50. The number of individual wild animals for 2015 is 88. Our smallest patient was a baby bat the size of a thumbnail. The largest was a young injured coyote. We provided care for a large variety of bird species as well as native non-game mammal. We tallied 1/3 more hours than last year. Currently we are near 3,500. As is the case every year, some of the animals were successfully released back into their wild habitat; some simply had injuries to traumatic to recover from. Each animal however, was provided the best environment we could offer with our very limited resources.    

We have no paid staff. The rate of pay for the donated hours would have been an estimated $27,600. We rely on our community to volunteer time. Our dedicated volunteers donated thousands of hours this year to provide care for our native neighbors. This year we did have sufficient funding to offer internships. Almost 800 were due to our interns. These wildlife care assistants resided at the facility and were available to provide round the clock care when needed. They were also able to respond immediately to phone calls. This is a wonderful improvement from previous years – the lead wildlife care specialist is not readily available since she needs to work away from the facility at various part time jobs. AHWF is a member with two professional wildlife rehabilitator associations; they provide a great deal of information relating to proper care.

The saying ‘It takes a village to raise a child’ is no less applicable to wild animals. Our total hours of volunteered time will be over 3,500 by the end of 2015.This is a 30% increase from previous year.  From May/June through October our three interns tallied 800 hours.   

Despite having three large fires burning very close to our facility we were still able to complete necessary projects: the large five room aviary, a small mammal yard, and adding sand to two of our existing enclosures as well as creation and mounting of a new exterior AHWF sign.  

We need your help to acquire funding to construct sufficient enclosures – Idaho Fish and Game has granted permission for us to rehabilitate large game species once we get our enclosures constructed. AHWF would be only one in the panhandle to assist these mega-charismatic mega fauna species.       

Education & Public Outreach         

Due to the quantity of wildlife cases, the number of phone calls and the busy hectic schedule of the primary lead volunteer, she was able to arrange or participate in only a handful of activities. The limited time also prevented regular posting on our social media sites, as many of you know we are only able to access dial-up internet at our facility.      We provide updates on our , ,  ,   ,  , ,  . We invite our supporters to write about their experiences with and score this nonprofit on                               &                

Our website provides a wealth of information about all our native neighbors, the various AHWF fundraising programs, wild animal photographs, volunteer and board member forms, and links to our illustrated children’s books. We also have created ‘hubs’ on the hubpages site which offers a variety of information on North Idaho topics. If you enjoy posting and tweeting and pinning and blogging PLEASE give us a call and we will be ever appreciative if you could take over as our s ocial media coordinator – it is a paid part time position!

Our ability to provide educational demonstrations was somewhat limited this year due to scheduling difficulties and lack of time from volunteers. We did provide a lecture at the North Idaho Animal Hospital and the Panhandle Animal Shelter. The topic was relating to wildlife babies and what to do if you find one.

We were invited to set up at the Majestic Landscaping and Garden Center grand opening event. Many wonderful volunteers painted faces and spoke about AHWF. We set up a table at the 7B Sunday event at Schweitzer Mountain, Independence Day celebration in Clark Fork, the Memorial Community Center in Hope, Pend Oreille Winery Sip n shop evening, and a table at the Christmas Craft Fair in the Bonner Mall. We also cleaned up our section of scenic highway 200 twice. We are very grateful to all the helpers for these events.

Additional exposure came from article in the Sandpoint Magazine summer issue. Advertisements were created for River Journal and Co-op magazines. We send out and post on our blog two annual newsletters – the native neighbor news. This publication details our activities. We have expanded our ability to introduce our nonprofit to the global community by expanding our reach through charity listing on several shopping/online sites as well as crowdfunding/donation sites. Locally: Yokes Market & Fred Meyers. Online: Amazon, Ebay, iGive, Good Shop/Good Search, Network for Good, Just Give, Welzoo, Good World, Razoo, Giving Grid, Love Animals & Go Fund Me. We are also investigating the sites:  global giving and generosity by indegogo. Each site for fundraising has their own level of ease and fees associated. Donation buttons are also linked to the facebook pages. We also are completing the project listing with justserve to gain volunteers. All these links are on our website. 

           

You can also check with your credit card company to find out if we are one of the recognized charities. For example through American Express the members give program supports recognized 501c3 nonprofits. 

We were saddened to see a local business close its doors after many years. Common Knowledge closed the summer of 2015. We had our series of books for children available with them. Five have been created:      Three (Logger’s Story, Logger Returns, Logger Makes New Friends) are enjoyable stores for younger children -perfect for bedtime stories and young readers. One is an activity book that everyone could find entertaining titled Fun time with Logger. It includes 54 activities such as crossword puzzles, word searches, dot to dot, wildlife trivia and color by number local birds. Adventures of a Wildlife Special Agent is the story written unlike most – it is a chose your own adventure book. The reader gets to decide which path the USFWS agent takes. Our hope is that readers young and old will enjoy the lessons taught by the story. We have been working to connect with a local artist to convert the entire Loggers Story series into a graphic novel (aka comic book).          They are still available at AHWF, Bonner Books, Vanderfords as well as online through the publisher Lulu     .             I believe they are also found through online book publishers – in the ebook formats: amazon’s kindle, barnes & nobles nook, kobu, apple’s ebook. The Sandpoint and Clark Fork Libraries have been given copies as well.  All proceeds go directly to AHWF; they provide a small amount of revenue for the cause of wildlife rehab and community education. An educational magazine that provides a portion of the subscription to help our cause is Bird Watchers Digest.

Funds  

We began the year with high hopes. A grant was being reviewed to allow us to construct a nature walk. We had sufficient funding to begin and complete our large aviary. A handful of public outreach events were scheduled – which allow not only education and awareness but also donation capacity. 

Our 2015 total expenses for the year were are $20,022. Despite being frugal, we still operate on a budget requiring a minimum $10,000 annually. The categories are Wildlife, Education & Outreach, and Administrative & General Operating.

Wildlife expenses were for food, medical supplies & attention, professional membership fees, fuel cost to deliver or retrieve wildlife, and enclosure building materials, Northern Lights electricity & Frontier phone. The mission of Education & Outreach costs included venue reservations, educational materials, & fuel reimbursement.  The total for this category is $9,740. This included the intern cost of $1,659. The cost to complete the large aviary was $7,500.    

We attended eight events and held one firewood raffle. This allowed our community to support us financially. We have several online platforms, shopping bars, and other programs which also provide a means to financially support our mission. The AHWF merchandise site on Café Press is a means to provide revenue as well as expand our reach into several different communities. Café Press offers items such as coffee mugs, teddy bears, a variety of tee shirt styles, tote bags, aprons and baby clothes. We also have the series of books written and illustrated by AHWF founders.  The total raised $2,387 

We are so grateful to Jackie, Judy, Sue, Jan, Darcy, Earthworks, Sharon, Donna, Monarch Market, Blue Lake RV, George, Scott, Mya, Kathleen, Tomas & Margaurite, Sandy, Deanna, Mary, Haden, Kara, Delorie, Jennifer, Jeannie, WW, Christine, Robert & Marilyn, Tammi, Melissa, Lois, Vance, Dave & Suzy, Susan, Jack & Diane, Alice, Sally, WCT. We also wish to thank those who gave supplies or readily traveled long distances, such as Priest River & Orofino to deliver the wild animals in need. Because of their contributions, we did not have to expend our financial resources. 2015 would not have been as successful without all of you! 

Each of these folks made regular pledges each month, joined the membership,   donated through online campaigns, or contributed significant amounts. They made the promise to present the present as a present for future generations. In 2016 … will you?

 The total revenue (including in-kind & labor) received to date an estimated $34,200 .

Future

First and foremost I will announce that we need more board members. Many of our current directors are retiring their volunteer positions due to health problems. We can have as many as seven members. Vacancies exist for all positions – basic Directors, Secretary, Treasurer, Vice President, and President. We must have a board of directors to remain compliant with all nonprofit regulatory agencies. Applications can be found online or call us directly. The obligation is a monthly meeting in whatever format (phone, email, in person) is chosen. The directors are the guiding force for the foundation. The tasks include reviewing the wildlife and financial information, planning and organizing outreach events.        

The immediate future promises sweets and fun. In 2016, we will offer a gourmet cheesecake and coffee fundraising event. Additionally, we will be bringing back the ‘wild Wednesday’ educational presentations. If you recall, in 2012/2013 AHWF offered monthly presentations on a variety of topics relating to our North Idaho environment and the inhabitants. These educational and entertaining evenings were well attended.  Keep posted on the dates by calling or checking our social media sites.            

At some point, before the Spring baby season begins, we need to replace our animal infirmary room floor. This room is our examination and intake room for new patients, a nursery for youngsters, as well as critical care unit for those with serious injuries. The floor is giving out from the heavy traffic. A crowdfunding site page has been established on GoFundMe. You can also submit a donation with the memo note for floor replacement. 

We will again pursue to hire interns to assist us during the busy Spring/Summer season – April/May through September. We hope to again find candidates that are willing to learn and be taught, able to live without cell phone or high speed internet and remain courteous despite long hours. Applications will be available on the website.  The 2015 interns completed an exit questionnaire. The results were 1) there is a great deal to learn and 2) the wish that the lead wildlife caregiver was more available. As you are aware, the lead caregiver has been affiliated with AHWF since day one, but has to supplement her income with several part time paying jobs. The quick solution would be to provide a cell phone with frontier phone service (they seem to be the most reliable of all the carriers for the Clark Fork region). The long term solution would be to raise sufficient funds and offer a seasonal part time position to allow side by side training.     

We will again join other Idaho Nonprofits for the IDAHOGIVES one day online day of giving. Each May all these charities come together in one place through Idaho Nonprofit Development Corporation to ask their communities to support their mission. Each year we have received generous support from those both near and far.

We applied for a grant to assist the creation of a meandering Nature Walk through the diverse habitat on the leased AHWF property. We did pass the first round of reviews but unfortunately did not make the final round. This could be a wonderful community service project for those able bodies willing to use rakes and shovels to level out the land, carry buckets of bark and mulch, pack wood beams to line the trail, paint signage, etc. Our hope for this trail is not only to offer hands on approach to outdoor education. Once completed, we would encourage school groups, seniors, and all others to schedule appointments and meet with one of our trained guides. We want everyone to get out and explore a sample of North Idaho wilderness in a safe and informative setting. We anticipated this type of educational opportunity could provide a stable means of revenue for AHWF. If you want to help us make this happen give us a call.          

We were not able to take advantage of the generous offer from the Bird of Prey NW founder. She offered to teach topics involving restraint, diagnosis of trauma & medical care for wing breaks so that we may improve our care of these valuable species. The time was simply not available. The mission of St. Maries based nonprofit is to provide education with and rehabilitation for injured raptors. Our newly completed 24 foot by 32 foot aviary will allow AHWF to offer our assistance to BoPNW and provide care for many of the raptor species in North Idaho.    

There will be two Scenic Highway 200 clean-up projects, traditionally April and October. We will also schedule two in-house clean-up projects – the spring spruce up and fall inventory days. With the exception of one year we have attended the annual celebration in Clark Fork on July 4^th for the past 15 years. We have attended the December Craft Fair in the Bonner Mall for the past several years. This is wonderful time to introduce our important mission and offer unique gift options.

Future plans for American Heritage Wildlife Foundation is continuing to expand our ability to care for all North Idaho wildlife species. The state of Idaho has granted permission for AHWF to construct and then receive a large game mammal rehabilitation permit. This means that all the calls relating to orphaned bear cubs or cougars can be immediately responded to. Idaho Black Bear Rehab in the Boise area has offered to assist in any way they can.           

American Heritage Wildlife Foundation is a 501(c) 3 nonprofit organization and all donations may be tax deductible. We are also an Idaho Nonprofit Incorporation; this does not however provide financial relief in any form. We are a member of the National Wildlife Rehabilitators Association and the International Wildlife Rehabilitation Council. AHWF holds permits from the USFWS migratory bird department and Idaho State Fish and Game. The one acre we lease is a certified wildlife habitat. We are 100 % volunteer.       

                                                                            completed 28 December 2015 by K. St. Clair – McGee

JULY 2015 NEWSLETTER

 

1 2 3 swallow ... lemon drops

 

This season your local and legal wildlife rehabilitation facility has cared for almost 50 patients. The wildlife in need received care from dedicated volunteers - that’s right volunteers! AHWF is community supported by both labor and finances.

Bear in mind, a survey from renowned ornithology scientists reported most small songbirds feed each of their nestlings an average of 4 to 12 meals per hour. One bird brought food to the nest 1,217 times between 4:15AM and 8PM.       

People may look at the variety of animals that American Heritage Wildlife Foundation provides care for and say “why bother?” or  “it’s only a common animal, what is the fuss? Only the large charismatic game species are important”.

Baby birds require a lot of work and very long hours. Young mammals require round the clock care. To date we have tallied up just shy of 2,000 hours.

 

The lead wildlife care specialist juggles part time paying jobs and gives up her remaining personal time to provide care for the injured or orphaned wildlife.

Until sufficient funds are available to provide employment, AHWF will continue to utilize volunteers and we hope summer interns.

Our interns have been such a treat. Having someone here at the facility while the lead wildlife specialist is at her paying jobs has been a blessing. They are able to feed and respond to phone calls. They have been trained to receive new patients as well. This is a wonderful benefit for our community. They have instant access to proper rehabilitative care.

One intern alarmed us and had to make a trip to Urgent Care. She had an infected salivary gland. The cure, along with antibiotics and steroid pills, ... lemon drops (yes the doctor actually prescribed hard sour candy!).

This year has been quite diverse in the species received. The patients ranged from our smallest patient ever - a severely dehydrated bat pup weighing only 1.8 gram bat pup to a 4 week old orphaned coyote pup. Also 3 day old robin nestlings to an injured adult male pileated woodpecker. We are so grateful these interns are willing to sacrifice their personal schedules to make time to provide care. Imagine the feeding routine of caring for three batches of swallows (fed each 15 minutes) and juvenile ravens (at 30 minutes) and other recovering wild animals … exhausting should be the first thought.

If you can lend a hand and want to help; please call. 208.266.1488

 

Wildlife Interns

You may recall the strain the lead wildlife volunteer underwent last year. She was balancing four part time jobs while providing full time wildlife care. Fortunately, we had sufficient funding in the budget to open an internship position. We began the process in January. We contacted Washington and Idaho universities as well as posting on the National Wildlife Rehabilitators Association website. We posted the application on our website and social media sites.

The response was incredible. We had candidates from Texas to Indiana and Washington to England!

Our first intern began in May but had a personal emergency and  so we began the search again.  Our second intern

 began June 21st.  

and was only able to remain for 3 weeks due to school and work constraints. We were pleased with her youthful enthusiasm. The third intern was able to begin June 21st and will remain through the summer.

These interns were provided their own living space in an RV, home cooked dinners each night, and a $50 week stipend.

You can help us make sure this program happens again next year. Send a contribution to AHWF or go online

 

 

EXPOSED & Dangers of DR. GOOGLE

 

Perhaps because of our exposure in the summer issue of Sandpoint Magazine, we have responded to over 180 phone calls and 70 cases to date.  Many of these animals were accepted as patients or referred to BOPNW or Mystic. The sad reality is that some fo these animals in distress suffered needlessly as their rescuers attempted to provide care themselves. We do not chastise those in our community with big hearts and compassionate natures. Our AHWF volunteers are the same mold. We do however become saddened and upset when our pleas to ‘release the animal to AHWF for care’ are ignored. Not only is that citizen acting illegally by attempting care they are also reducing to chances of a successful return and life in the wild for that animal.

Additionally we are deeply disheartened when people call stating they had the animal for x number of days and want to bring it to us.  

There is a harsh reality to face. Young wildlife can often become easily imprinted; this severely inhibits the chance of release. The nutritional requirements related to each  species is very specific. Without proper diet the skin, feathers or fur, eyesight, bones are all effected. This can cause irreversible damage inhibiting successful rehabilitation. There are behavioral factors to observe and be aware of which if done incorrectly can deny the animal a chance to return to the wild.

Wildlife rehabilitation, if done correctly, cannot be found on the internet. It is a learned experience that takes years and networking with other professionals.

If you are sincere about your love of wildlife, and want to pursue this passion, contact us we will happily bring you on and train you as one of our animal care volunteers.  

ONLY YOU!

 

Thanks to our volunteers we were able to complete our first of two highway clean ups of the AHWF three mile stretch of scenic highway 200. We were able to have a booth at the Independence celebration in Clark Fork, the Memorial Community Center in Hope and the 7B Sunday at Schweitzer Mountain Resort.

We have completed two educational presentations in Sandpoint. Our fundraising efforts included the LoveAnimals.org and IdahoGives online campaigns.             We had our fundraising firewood raffle again this year. A huge thanks goes out to Mike T. for finding, cutting, splitting, loading, then unloading over one cord of wood at the lucky winners home.

Nature Center not Taxidermy Studio

 

North Idaho is full of wild species. Our native neighbors are all around. As the human population continues to grow; conflicts are inevitable.

Idaho has only six facilities for the entire state. North American Heritage Wildlife Foundation is the only 501 (c) 3 nonprofit facility in North Idaho with both   federal and state permits providing care for all      species of wildlife. We work closely with two North Idaho specialty facilities that provide care for raptors and deer.

We are working to not only expand our permits to include the ’charismatic mega-fauna’ which need our care but also to provide the first educational nature center for the Inland Pacific Northwest. To truly appreciate nature we feel it should be heard, felt, tasted, and smelled not just seen as you would in a taxidermy studio.

If you believe that our area needs this type of educational facility, join your neighbors and contribute to the ‘one foot’ campaign.       

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

2015 Newsletter

JANUARY 2015 NEWSLETTER: 

MAKING A DIFFERENCE

Each year, despite being very frugal, American Heritage Wildlife Foundation still requires a minimum of $10,000 annually. The categories are Wildlife, Education & Outreach, and Administrative & General Operating.

  AHWF does not receive federal or state or local government funding nor paid staff. We must rely on our philanthropic community! You might say to the founder “Well I am just a working class member of society”. We believe anyone can be a philanthropist.

  Philanthropy is simply defined as a charitable act or gift. Each person has the ability to do this. Some of our wildlife patients require feedings every 15 minutes  Your gift of one hour gives life. Your act of sharing online about AHWF provides hope. Your becoming a member or donating allows us to meet our budget & succeed in our mission of wildlife rehabilitation for our native neighbors & community education.     

Making a difference

¨ One person saw the need  20 years ago and began AHWF. 

¨ Annual Budget requires $10,000—minimum.

¨ Volunteers give close to 1,500 hours from April to August. 

¨ Anyone can be a philanthropist!

¨ Give one hour get one dollar off AHWF (in stock) merchandise.  

2014 INTERNSHIP

2014 was the year that had long time volunteer & primary wildlife caregiver on the edge of resigning.  It was not because of the sheer quantity of animal cases but simply because of the demands on her time.  She was juggling four part time paying jobs as well as giving full time to the wild animals in need. “She has over 20 years of animal experience and is a valuable asset to AHWF. She would make a terrific employee if the funding were available” said board member C. Boward. “The problem is that we do not operate like a for profit business. We do not have large quantities of merchandise to sell and the services we provide are not covered by insurance claims”. The stark reality is that unless more contributions come in with the specific designation of general operating  expenses, we cannot offer a job position.     General operating expenses are the most difficult category of grants to receive. Most funders want a major project to show for effort. Operating expenses are the nuts and bolts - they are required parts but they are not glamorous. This is where our community steps in and provides  financial support through memberships, grocery cards, magazine subscriptions, online shopping toolbars and programs, and donations.   

   Thanks to recent support, the goal of having paid employees is still not a reality but it is closer. After being in existence for 13 years AHWF hopes to offer nonpaid internships to students interested in wildlife. The universities of Idaho and Montana have been contacted. Intern applications are available directly from AHWF as well.    

The successful candidate or candidates will be able to work unsupervised (and possibly long hours), reliable, trustworthy,   patient, gentle, good with the public, and have legible handwriting. 

  In order to continue the mission of wildlife rehabilitation & community education, AHWF must continue to receive the help of our community through man power & financial contributions.    These wild animals in distress must rely on compassionate humans to  provide cares. Without them there is no chance.

   AHWF must have your support to continue to operate your community wildlife nature center. Please go to our website to download the volunteer form or fill out the sign-up form below.  

One person can make a difference. Make the pledge to present the present as a    present for future             generations.           

Travel trailer needed!

What we need from you is to borrow or rent a travel trailer for the 2015 wildlife season. AHWF has sent an announcement out and is seeking interns to help with our wildlife     patients.  These interns need a place to stay. AHWF will borrow, rent, lease a travel trailer.   What we need from our community is some form of travel trailer. The unit must be self contained. The approximate time frame is from April through August.  Let us know as soon as possible if you or your neighbor or friends have one we could use.

Thank you!

YES I WILL sign up for:

wildlife babysitting , public relations, social media posting, highway clean up, fundraising and events coordination, pledging monthly to preserve wildlife.

I wish to become an annual member: (I am a native neighbor; I am a ….)

MOOSE – idaho resident $20

EAGLE –out of state supporter $20

OWL – over 65 $10

WOLF PACK – family $30

BLACK BEAR – sustaining $50

GRIZZLY BEAR – business sponsorship $100

COUGAR – one time member dues for lifetime category $1,000   

Did you know?

AHWF has a charity listing or a social media presence, or fundraising program with:                     amazon smile, bird watchers digest, café press, charity works ebay, facebook, fred meyer community card, igive, kindle, kobu, linked in groups, loveanimals, lulu, network for good, nook, pinterest, razoo, recycling ink-cellphones-etc, squidoo(hubpages), twitter, vimeo, welzoo, yokes community card, you tube  

Please find us online and support us with your generosity. Without you we cannot continue this vital work!  

Annual report for 2014

2014 ANNUAL REPORT

I would like to express my gratitude to everyone that supported AHWF in the 2014 calendar year. Because of your contributions of time, treasure and talents,                                                                                                   we can continue our mission for our 13^th year!  

2014 AHWF budget

EXPENSES:                   

  proposed  &  actual

     300              365      Fund Raising (including merchandise)

     543              544      Marketing

     960              980      Utilities

  4,000           9,920      Animal Care & Educational Mission (including Large Flight Barn)

  4,500   (wct funded)   Large Flight Barn  

20,000                0        Nature Trail*

60,000                0        Classroom & Educational Items* 

 

REVENUE:  

 1,750               3,472   Memberships & Merchandise       

 1,800                1,496   Events and Aluminum recycling & other programs                        

 3,500              10,325   One Foot Donations and Grants

80,000                      0   Phase III Funding* (if funded)

                          3,693   In-Kind contributions (excluding labor)        

WILDLIFE

By December 31, we estimate the total number of phone calls received will be not quite 250. The total number of individual wild animals for 2014 is seventy three. This year had by far surpassed our previous years in quantity and diversity. We also surpassed our reach into other parts of the state. Because of the ability to maintain our presence locally and online through website, social media, etc. we are making connections to keep all of Idaho wild. Our dedicated volunteers donated hundreds of hours each year to provide care for our native neighbors.

Specifically memorable animals were the orphaned Coyote pup brought to us from Idaho Fish and Game, the Eastern Kingbird fledgling, the Northern Painted Turtle with shell trauma, the Raven injured from gunshot wounds, 2 orphaned Chipmunk siblings, and the group of ‘just hatched’ Wild Turkeys. We also cared for other wild animals including Raccoons, several Pine Squirrels as well as Fox Squirrels, Mallard Ducks, Canada Geese, many types of songbirds such as Cedar Waxwings.       

As is the case every year, some of the animals were successfully released back into their wild habitat; some simply had injuries to traumatic to recover from. Each animal however, was provided the best environment we could offer with our very limited resources.     

The saying ‘It takes a village to raise a child’ is no less applicable to wild animals. Our total hours of volunteered time will again be near 2,000 by the end of 2014. Bear in mind, from April through September our volunteers donated 1,300 hours! (65 hours each week for 5 months) One project completed was to add sand to our existing aviary. Another project that has been in need of completion is placing metal onto the existing wood roof of our Raccoon enclosure. We were finally able to throw away that old tarp! We also began our new aviary. The majority of this time however, came from direct wildlife care and our lead wildlife volunteer (also the founder and board president) all while juggling four part-time (paying) jobs. She cannot complete successful rehabilitation alone – she must have help! Heart felt gratitude and thanks goes out to Amy, Ann, Beth, Bev, Bob, Carol, Carolyn, Danny, Darcy, Doreen, Eileen, Frances, Gail, Jenny, Jessica, Jutta, Kelsey, Leann, Lynn, Marguerite, Mary, Mike, all the Members, Paul, the Razoo crowd, Ronda, Sharon, Sherry, Sue, Tim, of course the ‘orange vest crew’ as well as our board of directors. Each person made the effort to help the mission of AHWF. In their own way, be it bird babysitter, animal taxi, fundraising event sponsor, infirmary or highway clean up, wildlife caretaker, public relations, social media promoter, Yokes escrip card and IGive program user, accountant, wildlife photographer, or financial supporter, each person made a difference in the life of a wild animal. This special group has chosen to keep North Idaho WILD! This is my question for each of you reading this document – will you take the pledge to present the present as a present for future generations? Go to our website to see what fundraising platforms are of interest to you (or keep reading); call today to discuss your area of interest and discuss when you are available to volunteer; Email us to provide your expertise or skill sets. THEY need you.             

 A recent survey compiled by a national wildlife agency reported 80 percent of all animals taken to wildlife rehab facilities are due to some type of human cause. Some are obvious such as cat or dog attack others are related to 'hidden' means - lead poisoning, loss of quality habitat (leading to increased territorial  battles and /or starvation) and simply mistaken identity by kidnapping a youngster. 

Some of the important environmental issues are being supported by a number of nonprofits. To review the results of cats versus songbirds go to www.abc.org (american bird conservancy). To find out the facts about bats and rabies visit bat conservation international.  To find out more about the destruction caused by mining visit our local NPO www.rockcreekalliance.org. For issues relating to the coal trains go to www.powerpastcoal.org and www.coalisnottheanswer.org. Also visit lake pend oreille waterkeepers website to learn of the major threat of biomagnification. Wildlife biologists report findings to the USFWS. Through one of our NPO affiliations we receive these studies. AHWF volunteers try to keep our local public informed by posting onto our social media sites when findings are of interest and related to species in North Idaho.                 

We continue to receive calls regarding Large Game animals such as Bear, Cougar, Moose and Deer. We refer the calls involving the Ungulates (namely deer) to a nearby wildlife rehabilitator with that specific permit. Without her the panhandle, the northern white-tailed deer have no place to go for care. She is however in need of ‘downsizing’ and needs someone to take over her overflow. We want to be that facility. The calls regarding large game mammals are still being forwarded to the Idaho Fish and Game as we do not have the permits to provide care at this time. We are one step closer however. Due to the closure of longtime rehabbers in the Lewiston area we were able to acquire one large chainmesh enclosure. We anticipate we will need to gain additional training from the nationally recognized Idaho Black Bear Rehab facility, located in Boise. At this time there are only two active NPO (nonprofit organizations) with facilities caring for large game – one in Boise and one in McCall. We need your help to acquire funding to construct sufficient enclosures before we approach our very receptive wildlife game warden. He is eager to recommend AHWF as a third facility to accommodate these species in the panhandle of Idaho.      

Education & Public Outreach         

Modern Technology allows us to both educate and reach out to our public. We are utilizing social media to the best of our ability (we remain in a deadzone of only dial-up internet access) to keep our community informed and educated. We provide updates on our facebook   , twitter   , blogger   , vimeo   , youtube   , linkedin   ,      pinterest   , formerly  squidoo now hubpages, and newly created diviantart sites. Additionally, our website provides a wealth of information about all our native neighbors, the various AHWF fundraising programs, wild animal photographs, volunteer and board member forms, links to our illustrated children’s books and is updated frequently with information about upcoming events. If you enjoy posting and tweeting and pinning and blogging PLEASE give us a call and we will be ever appreciative if you could take over as our s ocial media coordinator!

Our ability to provide educational demonstrations was somewhat limited this year due to scheduling difficulties and lack of time from volunteers. We were able to attend only two directly educational demonstrations, three awareness events & four outreach activities. In years past we have completed up to 20 public events.     

We were invited to present flora and fauna – a perfect match at the Kinnickinnick Native Plant Society meeting this spring. Our reception was an overwhelming crowd of 65 people. And again this summer we were invited to speak with the youth at the PAS Critter Camp about the importance of all animals, including our native neighbors. 

 

Jan = Newsletter & promote the ‘one foot’ campaign.    

Feb = no event

Mar = Native Plant Society lecture & Spring Spruce Up (aviary & nature trail postponed). 

Apr = Highway 200 spring cleanup & Membership Meeting.   

May = 2^nd annual IDAHOGIVES online program (with Sandpoint donation stations)                 

Jun = Presentation @ PAS camp.

Jul = Newsletter & Clark Fork 4^th Celebration at CFHS.   

Aug = KRFY 88.5 radio morning show interview & Firewood Raffle & Infirmary cleanup day.  

Sep = Membership Meeting & Squeeze Inn benefit dinner & begin work on Nature Walk.    

Oct = Monarch Market Chili Dogs and Bake Sale benefit & Highway 200 autumn cleanup.          

Nov = continued work on the Aviary & conversion of 4 AHWF books to E-book format  

                                                                 (available on amazon, ibook, kobu, lulu & nook)*.

Dec = Annual Report & Christmas Art and Craft Fair & Christmas Party at the Winery.   

 

*There are five paper copy & bound books available: Logger’s Story – the orphan fawn, Logger Returns – the grown up adventures of our deer friend, Logger Makes New Friends, and Adventures of a Wildlife Special Agent- a choose your own adventure book. The activity book titled Fun Time with Logger is not compatible for e-book as it contains 54 different activities from crosswords to word scrambles, color by number songbirds to word searches and dot to dots to wild animal trivia. These books were written specifically for AHWF. All proceeds go directly to AHWF; they provide a small amount of revenue for the cause of wildlife rehab and community education and can be found on lulu.com or through google search.      

We set up a booth at the independence day celebration in Clark Fork and a table at the Christmas Craft show in the bonner mall. We were interviewed by KRFY 88.5 radio station for the morning show. Additional exposure came from the Idahopress.com and nickelsworth articles. We hosted  spring spruce up and fall cleanup days at our facility as well as two adopt a highway clean up scenic highway 200 sessions.   

Funds  

We began the year with less than $1,000 in the bank and no grant proposals being reviewed. We did not know how we were going to continue our vital work.

Our 2014 total expenses for the year are $11,809. Despite being frugal, we still operate on a budget requiring a minimum $10,000 annually. The categories are Wildlife, Education & Outreach, and Administrative & General Operating.

Wildlife expenses were for food, medical supplies & attention, professional membership fees, fuel cost to deliver or retrieve wildlife, and enclosure building materials, Northern Lights electricity & Frontier phone. The mission of Education & Outreach costs included venue reservations, educational materials, & fuel reimbursement.  The total for this category is $10,409.

While we still have no paid staff, our general operating expenses remain low. The monthly Frontier phone bill, NLI electricity, POVN internet and website hosting as well as the Local Pages phone book advertising are part of our overhead expenses. This category is the most difficult to acquire grant funding. This category is the one we rely on our community to assist us with the most. The total was $1,400.

We survived the year because of our generous community and their support of  various fund raising events: Collection Can placed at Monarch Market, Idaho Gives day of giving, Firewood Raffle, Squeeze Inn benefit dinner, Chilidogs + Bake Sale Monarch Market, Bonner Mall craft fair,& the Christmas Party at the Winery. Direct donations and memberships helped support our mission as well as the in-kind donations such as food, building materials, appliances, and advertising space.

Financial contributions were from received from various funding programs like Yokes escrip community card (group number 500042524), Fred Meyers community rewards, magazine subscriptions (through magfundraising.com/ahwf) and subscriptions to Bird Watchers Digest, GoodSearch (online search bar), recycling of aluminum cans or ink cartridges and other technology gadgets, home page site (Welzoo.com), crowd funding site Razoo, donation pages on Network for Good & justgive, shopping network toolbars (iGive), the donation of percentages of your online shopping purchases on eBay charity works& Amazon Smile.          

The year ended with the Affinity program from CapitalOne credit card (where AHWF received a percentage of all your purchases) being cancelled; it just like the program from Red Swan offering the donations of old and broken jewelry, will no longer provide supplemental revenue.  

Merchandise we earn a small percentage on is available from our storefront on cafepress.com/ahwf. You can find baby clothes, aprons, teddybears, coffee mugs, tote bags and more.  The book publishing site lulu.com site has all five of our books. They can be downloaded and printed or purchased through your Amazon kindle or fire, Barnes and Noble Nook, Apple iBook, Kobu and Lulu e-book as well as traditional bound paperbacks.    

Additionally were so very blessed to receive $10,000 in grant awards. WCT provided the funding to begin and eventually complete our large aviary flight barn. This barn will have five individual areas that can be opened up in any variation to allow as much as the full 24 foot by 32 foot space. Without their support we could not have completed this major project as the promised support timbers were never delivered. 

The total revenue (including in-kind & labor) received to date an estimated $38,986.                   

 

Future

Future plans for American Heritage Wildlife Foundation will be to continue work on the Aviary Flight Barn through the winter and have it functioning by the spring season.  

We were again not able to send our lead volunteer of wildlife care to learn from the raptor expert in St. Maries. The time was simply not available. The mission of Bird of Prey Northwest is to provide education with and rehabilitation for injured raptors. The founder has generously offered to teach topics involving restraint, diagnosis of trauma & medical care for wing breaks so that we may improve our care of these valuable species. We hope this can take place in 2015 but time will tell. 

We began the process this autumn, of making a meandering Nature Walk through the diverse habitat on the leased AHWF property. We hope to continue this when the warmer 2015 weather allows. We will need help – many hands make light work! Perfect community service project for those able bodies willing to use rakes and shovels to level out the land, carry buckets of bark and mulch, pack wood beams to line the trail, paint signage, etc. We anticipate this type of nature trail will provide a stable means of revenue for AHWF.         

We are planning a presentation regarding what do if you find a wild animal baby. This will be at North Idaho Animal Hospital mid-April. We are discussing the possibility of a migratory bird day (or GBBC) event and an educational puppet show with Bonnie of IPT. We anticipate a few benefit dinners and bake sales. There will be two Scenic Highway 200 clean-up projects and two in-house clean-up projects. The annual celebration in Clark Fork on July 4^th will find us there as well as the December Craft Fair in the Mall. We will close the year with our annual Christmas Party.  

We will again join other Idaho Nonprofits for the IDAHOGIVES one day online day of giving. Each May all these charities come together in one place through Idaho Nonprofit Development Corporation to ask their communities to support their mission. Each year we have received generous support from those both near and far. Our goal for 2015 is $5,000. We have two categories: general operating support (for current expenses) and wildlife care center (for the expansion of AHWF).     

Due to potential conflict of 2015 employment the lead wildlife caregiver may not be readily available. This will require at least one intern to be trained and accommodations provided for. Onsite housing is the major concern. We are looking for a travel trailer that is self-contained. If you have one that you can lend, rent or will sell at a reasonable rate please contact us ASAP.   

American Heritage Wildlife Foundation is a 501(c) 3 nonprofit organization and all donations may be tax deductible. We are also an Idaho Nonprofit Incorporation; this does not however provide financial relief in any form. We are a member of the National Wildlife Rehabilitators Association. AHWF holds permits from the USFWS migratory bird department and Idaho State Fish and Game. The one acre we lease is a certified wildlife habitat. We are 100 % volunteer.        

                                                               Compiled and completed 1 December 2014 by K. St. Clair – McGee