It’s one thing to put a picture of a cuddly creature on a notecard and send it out with a plea for a donation. It’s another thing altogether to adopt a place and then arrange your organization in a way that meaningfully intersects with a particular habitat’s future. And that’s what Wake Audubon did throughout 2007. This group adopted the Lumber River, that gorgeous blackwater stream that winds through the coastal plain near Lumberton. Club members have spent hundreds of hours monitoring the breeding and migratory populations of birds in this critical habitat. They’ve taken to the Lumber in canoes, kayaks, and hip boots to help understand how birds use this region—and to help understand how best to preserve it.

Using their own love of birds as a way of helping others learn to love special places is a signature of Wake Audubon. The group has led the fight to preserve open space in Wake County’s Anderson Point and Durant Parks, traveling to committee meetings and public hearings to make the point that soccer fields are not open space, and that a place visited by a relative few is just as valuable as a place thronged with humans.

And all of this hard work of conservation takes place in a club that certainly loves to simply have a good time. From monthly bird walks to field trips across the state to work sessions on building nesting boxes, Wake Audubon has worked to connect people to the wild.

Just a few weeks ago Wake Audubon announced that its 2008 Bird of the Year is the prothonotary warbler. Now, a swamp-loving 3-ounce bird named after a cloak worn by medieval priests may not quite carry the charismatic charm of a penguin or a polar bear. But I think it provides something even more important. These gorgeous little slippets of gold and gray are tied to the wet woods of rivers and streams that help protect the quality of life for this region’s growing human populations. By protecting these birds, we protect our own future. It’s a lesson that Wake Audubon understands. And one that the group is committed to sharing. For that, Wake Audubon is the 2007 Conservation Organization of the Year.

T. Edward Nickens