Falcon benefactor wins CVPS-Zetterstrom Environmental Award

A woman at the forefront of efforts to restore endangered peregrine falcons in Vermont was honored Wednesday with an award named for one of the stateâ s most famous bird lovers.
Margaret Fowle was presented with the 2012 CVPS-Zetterstrom Environmental Award for years of work to repatriate peregrine falcons, which grace Vermontâ s conservation license plates and represent one of the stateâ s most successful conservation efforts. The award was accompanied by a $2,500 donation to Audubon Vermont to help continue its avian programs. The award is named for Meeri Zetterstrom, a CVPS customer known as Grandma Osprey, who instigated a recovery effort to restore ospreys in Vermont.
â Margaret Fowle has epitomized the selfless determination to improve Vermontâ s ecosystems and protect wildlife for which Meeri Zetterstrom was so well known,’said Brian Keefe, CVPSâ s vice president for government and public affairs, who presented the award at a Statehouse ceremony. â As much as anyone in the state, Margaret is responsible for ensuring that peregrine falcons will remain a part of Vermontâ s natural heritage for generations to come, an accomplishment born of thousands of hours of work, education and determination.â
Peregrine falcons, ospreys and many other raptors were nearly wiped out by DDT, a pesticide that got into the food chain, caused thin, brittle eggs and decimated bird populations. Fowle has been intimately involved in peregrine recovery since 1997, first with the Vermont Institute for Natural Science, the National Wildlife Federation, and now with Audubon Vermont. She has worked on everything from public education about peregrines to bird banding, protection of nest sites, fundraising, population monitoring with trained citizen scientists, and coordination with numerous states, agencies and non-profit groups.
â Margaretâ s ability to integrate her scientific training and her ability to organize and direct citizen volunteers towards peregrine falcon conservation has resulted in a great benefit to all Vermonters,’said John Buck, migratory bird project leader at the Department of Fish and Wildlife. â She has been a phenomenal ambassador for wildlife conservation in Vermont, which in large part is responsible for Vermonters’broad support for and kinship with peregrines. The fact that the peregrine falcon has been removed from the state and federal endangered species lists speaks to the tireless perseverance Margaret has displayed to see this restoration dream come true.â
Tim Upton, CVPSâ s manager of environmental affairs, who served on the committee that selected Fowle from among 21 nominees, said she was among a dozen whose efforts struck a chord with the committee. â She was a standout in a very strong field,’Upton said. â She embodies everything that Meeri Zetterstrom stood for: determination, selflessness, and a commitment to environmental education.â
CVPS spokesman Steve Costello, who worked with Zetterstrom for years, said the women shared an ability to transform wildlife conservation from an abstract government function to a public calling, involving ordinary Vermonters in meaningful ways. â Public education about wildlife is at the center of their success,’Costello said. â They were able to connect with people in evocative ways to build public support for their work and the environment in general. That, alone, is a substantial accomplishment, to say nothing of helping to save two entire species!â
The CVPS-Zetterstrom Award, first presented in 2010, was named for Zetterstrom to honor her work to promote ospreys’ return from the brink of extinction in Vermont, and to recognize others who follow her example. Zetterstrom inspired CVPS and the Vermont Department of Fish & Wildlife to collaborate to help ospreys, an effort that culminated with their removal from the endangered species list in 2005.
Sally Laughlin, a leading wildlife advocate and scientist, was presented the first CVPS-Zetterstrom Environmental Award in 2010. Michael Smith, who turned an overgrown forest into an environmental oasis with miles of trails in the city of Rutland, received the award in 2011.