Jill Palmer named Wildlife Volunteer of the Year

Jill Palmer of Matthews-based Habitat and Wildlife Keepers (HAWK) has been named Wildlife Volunteer of the Year by the North Carolina Wildlife Federation.

Palmer was recognized at the federation’s 52nd Annual Governor's Conservation Achievement Awards banquet in Cary on Saturday. Twenty people and organizations received awards.

In introducing Palmer, master of ceremonies T. Edward Nickens said she’s recruited volunteers to walk uptown Charlotte streets in the early morning dark to collect injured birds.

Palmer has recruited volunteers to plan and monitor more than 1,000 brown-headed nuthatch nesting boxes, said Nickens, Field & Stream magazine editor-at-large and author of “The Total Outdoorsman Manual.” She’s recruited dozens of volunteers to train as habitat stewards, he said.

“And she’s not just signing folks up,” Nickens said. “She has a hand in all of it: moth nights, bird walks, frog walks, Kids in Nature Days. If it’s a creek clean-up, you can count on Jill Palmer dragging along the biggest garbage bag of all.”

This story was originally published September 15, 2015 at 9:20 AM with the headline "Jill Palmer named Wildlife Volunteer of the Year."