Return to People behind the Eagles Profile of Eveleen Cecchini Of all the participants in the Vermont Bald Eagle Restoration Initiative, Eveleen Cecchini may well be the most passionate about the birds. The co-founder of Outreach for Earth Stewardship, a volunteer-based wildlife education and raptor rehabilitation organization based in Shelburne, Eveleen began working on the project before it even had any funding. Eveleen oversees the health, safety and daily care of the eaglets, and she trains and supervises the eagle-care team. She is meticulous in her attention to every last detail, while open to working with anyone who shares her commitment to birds. Her enthusiasm is infectious. "I think the most exciting thing about the project is the opportunity it extends to the Vermont community," Cecchini says. "You don't have to be retired, a wildlife biologist, a state or federal employee or an ornithologist to participate in this project. Anyone willing and able to be trained, climb a ladder and commit a few hours a week can be a front-line participant in this historical project, and make a direct and substantial impact on bald eagle recovery." Cecchini, her husband, Terry, and Craig Newman founded OFES in 1989. "It came from a demand for wildlife education programs based in science and presented in an atmosphere that touched humanity, and fostered joy, respect and responsibility for the wild world," she says. "While serving as a classroom teacher in Vermont for over decade, I experienced the power held by wildlife as a teaching tool. I went to graduate school at UVM to explore that power - teaching about wildlife with wildlife. "As part of my graduate work, I volunteered for several wildlife rehabilitation organizations," she says. "I rescued a saw-whet owl that turned out to be unreleasable, and after I obtained the proper permits, he became my wild ambassador in education programs. Concurrently, with the inspiration and support of Craig and Terry, OFES was born." Eveleen grew up in Washington State, Pennsylvania and on Long Island. She attended Johnson State College for two years, and graduated from Norwich University with a BA in education. She earned a master's degree in natural resources from the University of Vermont, specializing in environmental education, with a minor in wildlife biology. "Growing up in the 50s and 60s, my family and I went camping for vacation, so I got to experience the wilds of the Northeast a lot - forests, lakes, and oceans, and also the glaciers and mountains of the Pacific Northwest," she says. "I also had the freedom and the safety of the times to be able to go out and explore local woodlots and wildlife. "As a child, I loved birds. I used to draw and paint them. I would buy plastic models of different species and paint them by number. I'd read about birds in encyclopedias. I was so hungry to know more. I used to read under a big maple tree, and the birds kept distracting me from reading. They got my attention." Cecchini sees this project as far more than an eagle recovery project. "I see it as fostering ecological literacy," Cecchini says. "Less formally, it's strengthening respect and understanding for wildlife through education, and providing experiences for the lay person to build a respect for the need to maintain wild places by providing the opportunity to establish a personal relationship with bald eagles through education. By providing the opportunity for Vermonters to establish a personal relationship with these bald eagles, this project inspirits the desire to protect, conserve and maintain wild places in Vermont for future eagles." "There is a tremendous power in that, and it helps people appreciate and value the eagles' inherent wild nature and the birds' roles in our ecosystem, while reinforcing our responsibility to maintain a healthy ecosystem for their wild relatives." Cecchini thinks she's got the best job in the world. "This is IT," she says of the Vermont bald eagle program. "Once these birds have established themselves in Vermont, there will never be another bald eagle hacking project in the world! I feel like I am humbly a part of history. "I get to have such a special personal relationship with the wild, work with people who are equally committed to the health of the wild, and in some small, regular way, repair some of the damage that results from our footprint on the world." When the program's first eagle chicks fledged in the summer of 2004, Cecchini was a jumble of emotions. "There were so many mixed feelings, overlapping, mixing and shining," she says. "I felt envy that they had the whole world open to them. They flew as if they had done it all their lives and had places and ways to explore that I would never know, or feel. "Then there was pride - in a small way, as a part of a larger team, I helped gift these wonders to the world. And there was fear. What if we hadn't done all that we should have done? Hope. As a part of our energy and commitment, the world was now a better place. Faith. What we hadn't done right, their instincts - nature - would handle. "And last - wonder! Wonder at the power, and the beauty and the grace," Cecchini says. "The oxygen I breathed just suddenly felt cleaner!" Terms of Use - Copyright 2009 Central Vermont Public Service Copyright photos CVPS, Floyd Scholz U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service and Vermont Department of Fish & Wildlife Web related issues