About Us
Born Free Wildlife Rehabilitation is a 501(c)3 non-profit organization that has been operating for 30 years in the Yampa Valley. We have helped wild animals from Routt, Moffatt, Jackson, Eagle and Summit counties. Our mission is to help and care for sick, abandoned, or injured animals and release them back into the wild. Please help us with our mission. To hear some of our heart warming stories click here. Stories from the HeartIn The News
Meet Tracy Bye | Human being living on Mother Earth
Photo Credit: Karen Mack Photography
We had the good fortune of connecting with Tracy Bye and we’ve shared our conversation below.
Hi Tracy, is there a quote or affirmation that’s meaningful to you? I have many favorite quotes and affirmations. I choose this one today:
“Sit with animals QUIETLY
And they will show you their HEARTS.
Sit with them KINDLY
and they will help you locate YOURS.”
– Rumblings of the Claury
Let’s talk shop? Tell us more about your career, what can you share with our community?
Born Free Wildlife Rehabilitation began as a non profit in 1992. Over the 30+ years of being a sanctuary for all wildlife, it has been amazing AND hard work. I have connected with animals ALWAYS. I am most proud of having the opportunity to help animals who have been injured or abandoned to be able to be free again and live their life. I have had lots of help from the vets I use, other wildlife rehabilitators and many volunteers. The biggest challenge is time management. In working a full time job (to pay personal bills) and running a non-profit it can run you into the ground. During baby season it is crazy and it is always a challenge to try and keep everything in balance. As I have aged over the 30 years and my sons have grown and moved away that challenge becomes harder. Being a wildlife rehabilitator is a once in a life time gig – but it also takes very hard work, many hard experiences (death) and incredible experiences (releasing back into the wild)! As the world gets more crowded with people, the wild areas are more full and more animals are suffering due to the challenge of all of us living on this planet together. We need to remember the animals were here first and it is their habitat – to live with them is a gift and we need to respect that.
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Born Free Wildlife Rehabilitation Center gets wildlife back into nature after suffering injuries
Photo Credit: John F. Russell/Steamboat Pilot & Today
With the sound of the rolling waters of the Yampa River filling the air, Tracy Bye opened the door of a carrier and smiled as she watched a golden eagle hop outside. The eagle paused for a brief moment before launching into blue Yampa Valley sky.
Moments like these are nothing new for Bye.
She has seen them countless times since opening the Born Free Wildlife Rehabilitation Center in Steamboat Springs 30 years ago this spring. She estimates the rehabilitation center has cared for more than 5,000 injured animals.
“I just feel grateful that I’m able to be in their presence and help them heal,” Bye said. “When you release them back to the wild — because there’s just a gratitude that goes along with it — I can either cry (tears of joy) or smile. When people are around, I always smile.”
The idea of opening a wildlife rehabilitation center, Bye said, came from Colorado Parks and Wildlife employee Jim Hicks, who often visited her classroom before he retired in 1996. After one visit, Bye asked what it would take to open a center. Bye’s home was located on seven acres, so she filled the first requirement, and the rest she would learn.
The list of patients includes a wide range of animals, from chipmunks and porcupines to deer and elk.
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Golden eagle leaves Craig, Steamboat area for Nebraska
Photo Credit: Steamboat Pilot & Today
STEAMBOAT SPRINGS — Less than two weeks after being released, Alita, a golden eagle that was hit by a car near the Colorado-Wyoming border in August 2019, is now taking advantage of her second chance at life and spreading her wings.
“I just love getting those little reports every few days,” said Tracy Bye. who runs the Born Free Wildlife Rehabilitation Center in Steamboat Springs, where Alita was brought shortly after being discovered along the road last year. “It’s just so cool.”
Alita spent the first couple of days near where she was released before traveling north of Craig where she made several stops July 13 to 15. The eagle roosted just northwest of Steamboat Springs on July 17 before making a 100-mile journey the next day stopping just north of Fort Collins near the Colorado-Wyoming border. The following day, the eagle traveled 130 miles through southeastern Wyoming and into western Nebraska roosting near Scottsbluff.
“It’s not terribly unusual,” said Robert Murphy with Eagle Environmental, who was contracted by U.S. Game and Wildlife to attach a transmitter to track Alita as part of a study. “We don’t know her history. I mean when a bird is migrating, sometimes, they get the right kind of winds aloft and then they just pick up some warm air when it starts rising in the morning, and they get the lift and pick up the jet stream and then pretty much cruise all day. Sometimes, they can make 150 to 175 miles on a good day.”
Tracking Alita’s journey has been a rare opportunity for Bye, who has rehabilitated several golden and bald eagles as part of her efforts at Born Free. Alita is the first bird she has released that was fitted with a transmitter.
“It’s been really interesting to see where she is headed,” Bye said. “But to go to Scottsbluff, I’m like, ‘Really? It’s so much prettier here.’”
Bye is excited by the eagle’s progress since Alita was released the Tuesday after the Fourth of July. The bird struggled on its first two release attempts before finally making it to a tall tree on the banks of the Yampa River.
Murphy wasn’t sure where Alita might ultimately end up.
“This isn’t a normal golden eagle. It has been in rehabilitation for months, and we just don’t know how they behave necessarily in that early post-release period,” Murphy said. “I just don’t know what to expect.”
Eagle’s flight presents a golden opportunity to learn
Photo Credit: Steamboat Pilot & Today
Tracy Bye will tell you that everyday she has an opportunity to help an injured animal recover is special. But as she drove her pickup truck up a rough dirt road to Cedar Mountain on Tuesday, with a golden eagle riding in the back, it was abundantly clear just how far she would go.
“Of course it’s special, but I love every day no matter what animal I’m working with — it’s always a privilege working with them,” said Bye, who started the Born Free Wildlife Rehabilitation in Steamboat Springs in 1993.
However, it isn’t every day that Bye gets the chance to release a golden eagle, and it isn’t every day that she offers an eagle a second chance at life.
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Wildlife rehabber, vets recognized by Colorado Parks and Wildlife
Photo Credit: Steamboat Pilot & Today
A Steamboat Springs woman passionate about the welfare of wildlife and a veterinary hospital that is never hesitant to offer help were recognized by Colorado Parks and Wildlife Monday for their years of work. Tracy Bye and Steamboat Veterinary Hospital were treated to breakfast and presented plaques by local wildlife officers.
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