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Georgia DNR outreach coordinator outlines rehab resources, monitoring tools and volunteer options
Summary
During the Milton 'Wildlife 101' webinar, Linda May described DNR outreach tools, rehabber scarcity in some counties, digital resources (GeorgiaWildlife.com, NestWatch, eBird, Merlin) and funding options such as wildlife specialty license plates and tax check-off donations.
Linda May, outreach coordinator for the Georgia Department of Natural ResourcesWildlife Resources Division, reviewed resources and local rehabilitation networks that residents can use when they find injured wildlife and urged participation in citizen science.
May noted that some counties lack licensed wildlife rehabbers and suggested looking to adjacent counties for licensed transporters. "If there's not anyone in your county... find an adjacent county," she said, and recommended the Chattahoochee Nature Center in Roswell/Fulton County as a regional raptor resource for residents.
The presenter described DNR outreach channels — GeorgiaWildlife.com, the Georgia Wild e-newsletter, and agency social-media pages — and listed citizen-science programs useful for monitoring phenology and nest success, including BudBurst, NestWatch and eBird. She recommended the Merlin app and Cornell Lab's All About Birds for field identification and sound verification.
On funding, May said specialty wildlife license plates include an additional fee (about $25), and that roughly 80% of that amount supports wildlife conservation work in her unit; she also mentioned tax-deduction options such as a tax check-off donation (described in the webinar as a "give wild chance" check-off) as ways the public can support DNR programs.
May acknowledged limited local rehab capacity and urged attendees willing to volunteer for transport or to become licensed rehabbers to connect with local networks; she also encouraged donations to support wildlife departments and local nonprofit rehabbers.
The webinar included advice on safely handling injured birds for transport: use gloves, cover the bird with a towel, place it in a ventilated box with a soft lining, and contact the closest licensed rehabber rather than leaving transport to volunteers who are not part of a coordinated network.
May closed by inviting attendees to sign up for the Georgia Wild newsletter and to reach out with follow-up questions about careers or volunteer options with DNR.
