“How can we ask people to care about habitat preservation if they’ve never seen what lives there?”Īs a child, she loved fairy tales in which good and evil were clearly delineated, and the hero triumphed. “The teachable moment lies in watching a vulture spread its wings in the sun or seeing a hawk fly to the glove,” Shimmel says. For many children and adults, a visit marks the first time they’ve been face-to-face with a raptor or considered its vital role in the environment. With 33 species on display, the center welcomes the public six days a week. In such cases, CRC may choose to adopt them as permanent residents. CRC now boasts three forested acres with a medical clinic, a visitor’s center, and spacious enclosures that are home to birds such as bald eagles, peregrine falcons and the rare northern goshawk.Īlthough Shimmel, three other paid staff and more than 40 volunteers attempt to rehabilitate and release every bird brought to them, many of the birds have sustained irreparable injuries. Nineteen years ago she founded Cascades Raptor Center, a tiny nonprofit nature center and wildlife hospital specializing in birds of prey.
Louise Shimmel falls asleep to the hooting of northern spotted owls outside her window, and steps out into the chilly Eugene, Ore., morning to hand-feed injured red-tailed hawks and orphaned barn owls.