(CBS 5) Moving carefully in the crackling dry grass of a ranch in Marin, Alexandra Godbe and Maggie Rufo are slowly hoisting a long poll into the branches of a tall oak tree.
"This is our little monitor," explains Alex, pointing at a small electronic box on her hip. "It's attached to a camera at the tip of the poll. We actually put it in the holes to check to see if there are any owls in the box."
The camera hovers in front of a wooden box less than two feet high and about 17 inches wide. The round hole on the front allows access for barn owls looking for a place to nest.
"There's now owl in the box," Alex reports. She and Maggie lower the poll and prepare to climb a ladder into the branches to clean out this owl house.
Nesting season is over for the barn owl. It's time to clean and repair their man-made homes, placed in trees around the Bay Area to replace the owl's quickly vanishing natural habitat.
"We are losing big enough trees to accommodate barn owls and some of the buildings," says Alex. "They do like crevices in old buildings, hence the name barn owl. They used to nest in wooden barns, but now these structures are gone as well."
So five years ago, Alex, an organic gardener, started the Hungry Owl Project in response to their declining numbers in the wild.
"Partly that's because of lack of nest sites, but it also has to do with the use of rodent poisons and pesticides," says Alex.
Hungry Owl erects nesting boxes, and monitors the owls who use them, collecting data that's teaching scientists a lot about these creatures.
Wookie the barn owl is the project's ambassador, going with Alex to presentations and events. His white, heart-shaped face swivels to listen to people around him.
"They are stunningly beautiful and fascinating," Alex says admiringly. "People want to be around them, learn about them."
Barn owls like Wookie are voracious eaters. A family of barn owls can eat three thousand rodents in one breeding season. That's the advantage to landowners like Debbie Rowland of Pacheco Ranch vineyards and Winery in Novato, who says rodents are one of the biggest problems in the vineyard.
Debbie contacted the Hungry Owl Project and now has four boxes on her property. She says it's helped cut the rodent population.
"We still have rodents," she says. "But you know, that's part of the balance. I do think they have helped keep them down."
Landowners pay 80 dollars per box. Alex's organization has placed over 500 boxes in the North Bay.
She's also enlisted the help of local high schools. Woodshop students at San Rafael High School not only help build owl boxes, they learn a valuable lesson.
Teacher Bob Holt says, "It avoids having to use poisons that inadvertently kill other predators."
Alex and her small group of dedicated volunteers take her message from classroom to board rooms, even pest control companies, who are embracing the idea of using owls more and poison less.
"I really would like people to think more about the choices they make, the pesticides, the cleaning products, everything that they use, and use less toxic things because the environment is precious not just for wildlife, but also us," says Alex.
So for expanding the habitat the barn owl, and educating others to their importance in the natural balance of our environment, this week's Jefferson Award in the Bay Area goes to Alexandra Godbe.
By Kate Kelly
(© 2006 CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. The Associated Press contributed to this report.)
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