Sacajawea Audubon Society is proud to announce that our Conservation Chair Paulette Epple is the recipient of a Cox Conserves Heroes award for her work at Story Mill Community Park. This award was given for her leadership in our partnership with the Trust for Public Land. 

From Story Mill Community Park’s earliest beginnings, Paulette was involved with engaging our membership to publicly support the creation of the park. She was then tapped by Trust for Public Land director Maddy Pope to give input on the trail system through the Nature Preserve, and greatly influenced the trail network design that we so enjoy today.  Paulette also provided critical input on the preserve signage, and the bird blind. Before the park was officially open, Paulette organized and led many bird walks to introduce the community to this future gem. She installed several nest boxes to entice Tree Swallows, Black-capped Chickadees and House Wrens to take up residence, and to give visitors an up-close look at nesting songbirds.

More recently, Paulette oversaw the creation of a bird-feeding station at the bird blind. Working with partner GCC Trident, a feeding pole was manufactured and installed. She then set up a system to have SAS volunteers maintain and fill the feeders throughout the year. The feeding station has become a focal point in the park and is visited by many people, including school kids, families, photographers & birders.

The last project Paulette created was during the 2020 pandemic year. Sacajawea Audubon was given a section of the Story Mill Park Learning Garden to plant as a bird-friendly demonstration garden. This really fell into Paulette’s background as a professional landscaper. She enlisted help from landscape architect Linda Iverson to create a plan. Then she gathered the 99 plants of 35 species and organized several socially distanced work parties to prepare the ground and put in the plants and irrigation system. Of course, it turned out beautifully! The final touch will be installing new garden and plant signage come spring. 

All of these projects were possible due to the hundreds of hours put in by our dedicated and enthusiastic volunteers as they led bird walks, pulled weeds, filled bird feeders, and planted shrubs.  This Cox Conserves Heroes Award comes with a $5,000 prize, which Paulette has donated back to Sacajawea Audubon.

Thank you, Paulette, for your dedication and hard work on behalf of the birds. Congratulations!

 

 

Paulette helping install a new feeder pole at Story Mill Park