Wild Birds Flock to Oncor Environmental Fair

 

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Oncor’s Earth Day Environmental Fair showcases owls, hawks and other birds from Kathy Rogers Wildlife Rehabilitation Center, Hybrid Truck, Recycling, Energy Efficiency April 4, 2008

 

What:

An owl, hawk and vulture, which are Educational Ambassadors for Rogers Wildlife Rehabilitation Center will meet employees who work for the largest power line operator in the state as part of an Earth Day Environmental Fair on Monday, April 14. Rogers Wildlife works closely with Oncor to remove eggs and nestlings from nests built on Oncor power lines before the nests are removed by Oncor crews. Kathy Rogers transports the eggs and nestlings to her facility in Hutchins where she incubates the eggs, nurtures the nestlings, and helps the young Herons develop the survival skills needed in order to be released into the wild. Over the last two years, more than 63 Great Blue Herons, a federally protected species, have been rescued and returned to the wild as a result of Oncor’s environmental partnership with Rogers Wildlife Rehabilitation Center.

 

Why:

Oncor employees who are involved in egg and chick rescues rarely see how the birds turn out. Fresh from a dramatic Great Blue Heron egg rescue at an Abilene transmission line, Rogers will introduce her flock to Dallas employees in person and other Oncor employees through Web cast. Oncor also will showcase its environmental efforts to recycle transformers, oil, wood pallets, prevent greenhouse gas emissions, increase energy efficiency, and develop hybrid diesel electric trucks. Oncor’s first hybrid diesel electric truck will soon complete a two-year pilot project sponsored by the manufacturer. It is only one of 14 in the U.S.

 

When / Where:

11 a.m. to 1 p.m.
Monday, April 14
Poet Room, Energy Plaza, 1601 Bryan, Dallas TX

 

Visuals:

• Rescued birds from Rogers Rehabilitation Center
• Hybrid bucket truck operating in Dallas and display
• B-roll from Great Blue Heron rescue in Abilene – HD format
• Recycling, green house gas capture demos
• Rogers, Oncor representatives available for interviews
  
  

Background:

Rogers Wildlife Rehabilitation Center (RWRC), http://www.rogerswildlife.org/, is a non-profit wildlife rescue and rehabilitation organization. RWRC’s purpose is to help injured, sick or orphaned birds return to their natural environment. Additionally, Rogers Wildlife serves as a regional environmental educational center for school districts, students and families. RWRC is the largest rehabilitation and education center of its kind in Texas, serving more than 100 counties.

Oncor is a regulated electric distribution and transmission business that uses superior asset management skills to provide reliable electricity delivery to consumers. Oncor operates the largest distribution and transmission system in Texas, providing power to 3 million electric delivery points over more than 101,000 miles of distribution and 14,000 miles of transmission lines. While Oncor is a subsidiary of EFH, Oncor is a separate entity that reports to a separate board that is comprised of a majority of independent directors.

 

 

The Follow Up

Oncor saves herons from precarious perch

Tuesday, April 15, 200

By RUSS AARON / The Dallas Morning News
raaron@dallasnews.com

A Hutchins wildlife program has once again teamed up with Oncor Electric Delivery during "nesting season" to help save birds.

For the last four years, Oncor has worked with the Rogers Wildlife Rehabilitation Center to rescue nests on electric towers as high as 120 feet to ensure that the company's services are not disrupted and that the protected birds are kept safe.

"Our company has been keenly aware of our impact to the environment," said Debbie Boyle, Oncor's senior director for environment health safety and training. "We're working in concert with the environment, but also maintaining reliability."

On Monday, Kathy Rogers of the wildlife center took some recently rescued baby herons to Oncor headquarters in Dallas to show employees firsthand the result of their partnership.

The fuzzy grayish-blue heron chicks were rescued from a 120-foot-tall electric tower in Abilene the first week of April. At the center, they will learn to hunt and feed on their own before being returned to the wild.

Ms. Rogers trains Oncor contractors to climb the towers, place the eggs in a specially designed backpack and remove the ne! st. The eggs are then transported to the rehabilitation center.

"There's nobody else to take care of them," she said.

Oncor said they have rescued more than 60 great blue herons from electrical towers, but Ms. Rogers believes that number to be substantially higher. The great blue heron is one of many species of birds that is protected by law. Two herons released from the center last year returned this year to nest and breed.
A government permit allows Oncor to remove 25 nests of protected birds each year from its towers, Ms. Rogers said. Additional nests of protected birds are supposed to remain untouched.

 

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WILLIAM DESHAZER

/ DMN
Penny Halstead of Rogers Wildlife Rehabilitation Center shows a heron chick to Oncor employees.