Maine Outdoor Journal

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The late Bill Silliker Jr. waits to photograph moose in Baxter State Park in June 2003. His widow has given his thousands of wildlife photos to a conservation center in North Amity.

The Associated Press

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FOR information about the A.E. Howell Wildlife Conservation Center, go to spruceacresrefuge.tripod.com/.

Maine photographer Bill Silliker Jr. died five years ago, but his vast photography collection will live on in a place that shares his conservation mission.

This spring, a museum holding Silliker's work will open in the small northern Maine town of North Amity, just south of Houlton.

The A.E. Howell Wildlife Conservation Center and Spruce Acre Refuge was chosen by Silliker's widow, Maryellen, as the beneficiary of his collection.

The proceeds from sales of copies of Silliker's photographs will go to the center. There are more than 250,000 slides in the collection.

The 27-year-old center was created to help injured wildlife by Art and Dot Howell. It's a nonprofit run exclusively by the husband and wife, aided by only a crew of volunteers.

Like Silliker, the Howells wanted to save wildlife when they began their center.

"I was trying to figure out what would Bill want to do, and what would be of most use of these slides at this point," Maryellen Silliker said. "I thought about it and thought about it, and I knew about Art and his organization and it's two people, him and his wife, who devote their time and energy and their lives to these animals and rehabilitating them. And I said, to me, that is probably the most beneficial use of those slides."

Silliker died at age 56 on Oct. 13, 2003, at the height of his career, while leading a wildlife photography class in Baxter State Park.

He was known for his images of moose, bald eagles and deer in Maine's rivers and woods, and his work has been published in National Geographic, Nature Photographer, Backpacker and Outdoor Life.

"He gave his life to give to other people," Howell said. "He did a lot. I want these youngsters that I help educate to see that they, too, can do great things, like Bill Silliker."

The new home for Silliker's work is a perfect fit, said Alan Hutchinson, executive director of the Forest Society of Maine.

Hutchinson, a friend of Silliker's, said the photographer's quest was to help conserve land for wildlife, the same critters Howell helps.

"It's a big deal. It's a great decision. It keeps it out there available for the public to see," Hutchinson said. "It keeps it within the conservation community and focused on that side of it. That was what drove him, to see his work put to conservation purposes. It's staying true to his spirit.

"He tried to get people excited by really connecting them with the beauty of Maine in Maine's outdoors, whether they had ever been there or not."

The Howells' work in northern Maine is similar. Hutchinson said he learned that firsthand when he worked for the Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife as director of the endangered species program.

Art Howell said their wildlife hospital has a high success rate of returning injured wildlife back into the wild, and a record of bringing conservation lessons to youth. The Howells use 70 acres of their own land to house and rehabilitate wildlife, such as 124 black bears they have released into the wild.

They also go to schools around the state to educate youth about wildlife issues.

Howell only met Silliker once, when he was releasing a black bear into Baxter State Park, but he said their personal missions were much the same.

"A lot of rehabilitators don't believe in mixing education with mixing of wild animals. We do," Howell said. "I met with Maryellen and we drew up all the papers. She didn't want any money. What she wanted was every time we had a sale of any of Bill's work that it was designated into a fund that would go toward the animals themselves, for expansion of cages or vet bills or purchasing bills or expansion of maybe land for release sites."

To commemorate the Sillikers' contributions, Howell plans to open a museum holding some of Silliker's work, and to create a documentary of the photographer's life. In the coming months, prints of Silliker's work will be sold on the conservation center's Web site.

Staff Writer Deirdre Fleming can be contacted at 791-6452 or at:

dfleming@pressherald.com