Lissa Margetts
By Deb Dion

Imagine you are a mother, and it's dinner time, but instead of fussy kids you have almost 200 mouths to feed, from 73 different species with various diets and eating habits. Welcome to the world of Lissa Margetts, who founded Rocky Mountain Ark, a wildlife rehabilitation and refuge center on Wilson Mesa. Margetts was awarded the title of “Citizen of the Year” this summer by the Telluride Foundation for her contributions to the community.

Margetts says she typically gets out of bed at 4 a.m. to start making bottles to feed the first round of animals, except in the summer, when that would be considered sleeping late. “I basically don't sleep in June, July and August because I'm up with the baby animals,” laughs Margetts. “Every one of these animals' diets is completely different. It does take a variety of food and a lot of time to feed them.”

The frenzied feeding process, and the enormity of its expense, has made Margetts shrewd. She welcomes calls from citizens and highway patrollers with reports of roadkill-a free supply of fresh meat to feed predators such as the lynx, bobcats, lions and badgers she has in her care. “It does help with the cost of food,” says Margetts.

Recently, as she was trying to discreetly lift a dead doe off the road onto the tailgate of her vehicle by the Ridgway reservoir, a middle-aged woman pulled up alongside her. “She held out a twenty dollar bill and said 'Honey, just go to the store,'” says Margetts. “She thought I was picking this up to feed my family. There is some humor to this, but it's not the most pleasant job.”

Margetts has been in the business of feeding and caring for injured or orphaned wildlife for 27 years. But her interest in rehabilitating animals came before she created the 14-acre Wilson Mesa Ark as a refuge. As a child, her father, Gardiner Pier, was a physician in Telluride when there was no veterinarian. In the absence of a vet, people brought sick animals to him, and Margetts became the unofficial nurse and rehabilitator.

Margetts says the highlight of her career has been inspiring young people who share her love and dedication to the animal kingdom. Rocky Mountain Ark also runs educational programs about wildlife for children and hosts vet students as interns. “We've had over 100,000 kids come to our programs,” says Margetts. “Some of them now have children of their own and those kids are now coming to the Ark. It's a unique opportunity for them to deal with native species. You hope that you planted a seed and have made a difference. That's the coolest part.”

Margetts now faces another big challenge. In 2006, she has to move the Ark to a new location. Every creature, from hummingbirds to bears, from Ruby the mountain lion to Gilligan the misplaced seagull with a broken wing, and all of their re-created habitat, will need to be relocated. Margetts says she looks forward to finding a new space with more acreage and without a homeowners association that limits the amount of educational programs and traffic at the Ark.

The expense of a new facility is daunting, especially for an operation that survives on a svelte budget generated solely from donations. “We're trying to create a $3 million endowment to relocate the Ark, secure wages for staff and assure the ongoing expenses of the Ark are covered,” explains Margetts. “This is truly a grassroots organization, and it's been a labor of love. We've been supported by this community for years and years.”

The animal rescuer herself has been revived by her career. During her tenure at the Ark, she weathered two bouts of cancer, survival she attributes to her work. “These animals are what kept me alive,” she says.

After Margetts gets the creatures settled in their new home, she hopes to eventually phase out of her role, first acting as an assistant to the new director and eventually serving on the Ark's board of directors. Then she hopes to sail off on a boat somewhere with her husband, Steve, who ironically is allergic to animals, and spend time with her 28-year-old son Jake. “Wherever I am, I know I'll still be getting those phone calls,” says Margetts. “It's so cool to have started something that goes beyond you.”