Volunteers critical to success of bird project

It was early. It was cold. And it was a Saturday, a day most like to take off and relax and not work.

But there they were, about 100 volunteers bundled up and ready to work. And work hard they did.

It was, after all, the volunteers who made the nesting project for ducks and geese at Farmington Bay possible. Without the many hands to do the work and the willingness to get cold and dirty, projects like this one would go nowhere.

The Farmington Bay work was somewhat special in it attracted a range of people, from Boy Scouts to airboat owners to those simply looking for an opportunities to help wildlife that are unable to help themselves.

For all their work they got a hot lunch, cold hands and feet and the knowledge they helped make a difference.

In this case ducks and geese have become victims of circumstances.

The predator population at the bay is growing at an accelerated rate, and they love to dine on eggs and young.

Also working against waterfowl is the overgrowth of phragmites, a dense ornamental plant that is non-native to Utah and is limiting nesting opportunities. It grows in clusters and is so dense it's impossible for ducks to swim through or nest in.

As a result, ducks and geese are being forced to nest where predators can get to them.

The volunteers first built and then helped to put in place predator-proof nesting boxes.

This is but one of the wildlife projects made possible by volunteers.

Several years back I helped Byron Gunderson of Fish Tech Outfitters put on fishing events for kids. The first couple of years we had nearly 1,000 youngsters under 14 show up at different hours.

As many as 150 kids at a time encircled the small pond at Fairmont Park. And there, along with them, were the volunteers.

Most of those kids had never so much as seen a hook, let alone put on a worm or thread monofilament line or tried to cast.

It was up to the volunteers to bait the hooks, untangle the lines, give casting lessons and, when necessary, unhook fish.

Had it not been for the volunteers, who stayed by the pond for hours on end, doing their chores, those kids would never have had the opportunity to fish.

Back in January, there was a transplant program on Antelope Island that drew a bunch of volunteers. California bighorn sheep were netted then flown to a site where volunteers helped wildlife officers carry, check and then move them to new homes.

Even now the DWR is looking for volunteers to teach kids about fish and fishing through its club program in various cities running between Logan and Washington City.