North Delta Conservancy

Mike Miller

After a successful 30 year teaching career, Mike Miller retired in 2006 to Walnut Grove, CA to be closer to family. Having a love for the outdoors and wildlife, shortly after his move to Walnut Grove, Mike joined North Delta Conservancy. Mike had been a volunteer for the duck egg rescue project. During the spring and summer months from 2006 through 2010, he cleaned, watered, and fed the ducks at NDC’s facility on Tyler Island once a week.

Mike continued to volunteer as a substitute when needed. From 2009 until his passing in 2013, Mike also was a NDC volunteer for the wood duck nesting box project. While for the first year he was a part-time volunteer in this program; the rest of his years he worked in a full-time capacity with this program. Mike developed hands-on experience of the wildlife conservation through both programs. Mike had developed the banding skills necessary to band wood ducks and was working on obtaining his banding permit at the time of his passing.

Early on, Mike joined the NDC Board of Directors and assumed several leadership roles including officer positions of President and Treasurer and Outreach Chair. As Outreach Chair, Mike organized booth displays for Walk on the Wildside in Freeport every year, developed the Youth Duck Calling Contest featured at the Courtland Pear Fair each year, and developed the NDC Scholarship Program. Mike also lead several special presentations on NDC and duck conservation, including a presentation in the Walnut Grove Library’s Jim Dixon Memorial Nature Series.