A Medford resident dedicated to wildlife conservation will be closing an integral chapter in her life as she takes her expertise and skills to a new, but familiar, venture.
Executive Director at Woodford Cedar Run Wildlife Refuge Jeanne Gural is moving on to a new opportunity at the Wilderness Center in Wilmont, Ohio, as she expands her career in wildlife conservation. After working with Cedar Run for just over 10 years, Gural will now serve as the Wilderness Center’s executive director.
“I am excited for the future and I’m thankful for the opportunity to help shape the next chapter of my life,” Gural said. “But like I said, it’s a little bit like going through a divorce while I’m still in love, because I do love Cedar Run.”
She went on to add she has a great affection for the organization, the staff and the animals they help.
In her time at the refuge, she said she loved seeing how Cedar Run grew in size, volunteers and staff, and its reach in the South Jersey region.
“It is an amazing thing to watch how Cedar Run has grown because sometimes you don’t recognize how the stuff you’re doing out there is going to impact what you’re doing here,” Gural said. “I am quite proud of not only the work that I’ve done, but also the work that the entire team has done.”
She went on to add the educational programs went from occurring a few hundred times a year to a few thousand, providing children with the necessary STEM-based education they need, and also letting them know a thing or two about conservation.
“We can save all of the habitat and the wildlife we want, but unless we’re actually educating the next generation on why this is important, it’s almost all for nothing,” Gural said.
As the refuge grew over the years, Gural said she and the rest of the executive board made considerable and successful efforts in getting the staff properly compensated and in improving working conditions.
“The roof of the hospital and a section is new because one or two years ago, I walked into the hospital and saw Lori Swanson, the director of our hospital, eating in a closet,” she said. “It was then I realized that she didn’t have an office and needed to get away from the volunteers, interns and stuff like that. So now we’re building her an office.”
By watching her interaction with Cedar Run’s resident animals, it’s easy to see Gural is in love with each and holds personal ties to them. From saying “hi” to Blueberry the BlueJay, to a duo of bald eagles or crows, Gural loves being the one who “has fun” with the animals.
She added she’s completed a “couple hundred” animal releases into the wild, but her colleagues Swanson and Mike O’Malley, volunteer coordinator and assistant hospital director, have released far more than her.
On Oct. 1, Gural visit her hometown of Palmyra to release a red-tailed hawk into the wild after it completed its rehab with the refuge. There, she said the release was almost a family affair because she met up with women she’s known since her elementary school days.
As she prepares to move on to the next chapter of her life, Gural said of all of the animal releases she’s done, the release of a female red-tailed hawk several years ago stuck with her after all these years.
She said the hawk flew into a backyard soccer net a few years ago and sustained various injuries. The hawk stayed at the refuge for nearly two-and-a-half months to heal her wounds and regain the ability to fly on her own. Upon successful completion of her rehab, Gural said she and the hawk returned to the backyard to release her back into the wild.
“Within a few short minutes, we heard a call from another hawk and then we heard the call again and she answered,” she said. “They called back and forth and she took off, flew up and they joined in the air and started circling together. It was her mate.”
Without the work Cedar Run has done, Gural added, the hawk’s release wouldn’t have happened.
As her last day at the refuge on Oct. 31 approaches, Gural described her time at the organization as “tremendous” with how many challenges, rewards and joy it has brought her.
