The Aerial View - December 30,2014- Aerial Views Top Story for 2014 The following is the Aerial View’s Top Story of 2014 coming out of the Montana office in April. (April 4, 2014) This week in Helena Montana, AT&T external affairs and operations reached out to WesTower regarding a high visibility project to be known as “Project Osprey”. Adjacent to an elementary school in Helena is an AT&T monopole that is also the home to an osprey pair. The osprey pair has been monitored by the Montana Fish & Game as well as the 2nd grade students of Mrs. Johnson’s class at Kessler Elementary. In March, the students noticed that the osprey pair had incorporated bailing twine into their nest structure on the monopole. The twine poses a serious threat to the pair and the potential fledglings that they will rear later this spring. The class wrote letters to Montana Wildlife as well as the local media. All parties rallied around the cause and reached out to help. AT&T was contacted about the issue and directed their external affairs department to address it. AT&T contacted WesTower and asked if we would be willing to participate by providing a tower crew to remove the twine and provide pictures to document the task. This would be a “high visibility” project with both Montana Wildlife and the local media involved. WesTower RVP Don Klausing approved WesTower’s involvement and RMR Program Manager Daniel Fredriksen dispatched a crew to the location. In front of a media crew, Montana Wildlife and not to forget the discerning eyes of Mrs. Johnson’s entire 2nd grade class, the WesTower crew of Chris Raney, Eric Bradford, Alfredo Esparza and Julian Hughes supported on site by WesTower PM Jim McCarthy sprang into action as “Team Osprey” and Project Osprey was underway. In the usual WesTower manner Team Osprey proceeded in this unusual project. With safety first and foremost, Chris Raney and Eric Bradford scaled the monopole and began the task of removing the twine from the nest. The work was carefully done to leave the nest intact and welcoming for the osprey pair’s return home. Thankfully, the formidable raptors did not return to defend their nest during the 90 minute procedure at height. Project Osprey was a total success. After a visit to Mrs. Johnson’s class to describe the procedure, a photo session, numerous rounds of well-deserved kudos from AT&T, Montana Wildlife and all involved, Team Osprey is now once again Team WesTower and “Project Osprey” a contender for The Aerial View’s 2014 ‘Story of the Year’ to be announced in late December. Below are pictures of A hazard for the osprey pair, Project Osprey Completed, and Team Osprey and Mrs. Johnson’s 2nd Grade Class! “Earth and sky, woods and fields, lakes and rivers, the mountain and the sea, are excellent schoolmasters, and teach some of us more than we can ever learn from books.” John Lubbock
Posted on: Tue, 30 Dec 2014 19:18:10 +0000
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