MARQUETTE, Mich. (WZMQ) – Wildlife rehabilitation in the Upper Peninsula is a very busy career, with licensed rehabbers volunteering part-time out of their own homes.
“All of the licensed wildlife rehabbers in the U.P. are what’s considered ‘backyard rehabbers,'” said Kyann Clark, the founder and executive director of the Superior Wildlife Rehab and Education Center. “So all of us are working out of clinical spaces that we’ve created in our homes.”
Kyann Clarke has been rehabilitating wild fawns and mammals in Marquette County for 5 years. She began her career by starting the Wilson Creek Wildlife Rehabilitation Center out of her basement. Now, she is looking to make a change in the current state of wildlife rehab in the Upper Peninsula, as many counties in the area don’t have a licensed rehabilitator, such as Alger and Delta Counties.
“When my license came up for renewal last fall, I decided that I wanted to try and do something to address those issues, and hopefully make wildlife rehab more sustainable for the U.P.” said Clarke. Beginning in February, the Superior Wildlife Rehab and Education Center is a non-profit corporation. Their overall goal is to build the U.P.’s first ever dedicated wildlife rehab facility. Its focus will be on providing rehab resources to injured and orphaned fawns and other mammals across multiple counties.
“We live in an area that has such an abundance of wildlife, that if we don’t make licensed wildlife rehab sustainable for our area, I fully believe that we won’t have any licensed rehabbers here anymore,” said Clarke. The non-profit plans to allow for licensed rehabbers to transition from part time volunteers to full time employees. In addition, they aim to provide educational programming to the public, as well as training opportunities to foster new rehab positions throughout the U.P.
Currently in the Upper Peninsula, there are no available options of hands-on training for wildlife rehabilitation. The nearest Continuing Education Units (CEU) training is found in Eaton Rapids.
“There is no training at all in the U.P.,” said Clarke. “At this facility, we can get those counties that don’t have anybody there licensed and rehabbing, we can get them the resources that they need.” The corporation is looking for donations and support from the Marquette, Alger and Delta Counties to bring the project to fruition, hoping for a permanent facility location in Harvey by next spring.
To donate and support the SWREC, visit www.swrec.org as well as their Facebook.
