Famed Utah bird man dies
Bill Fenimore
Seagulls gather at the south marina by Tooele. The goal was to spot as many bird types as possible for the bird festival. At the Great Salt Lake on May 15, 2015.
FARMINGTON — William Nolan Fenimore III likely never met, or even watched, a bird he didn’t like.
Fenimore, a professional bird watcher who brought together wildlife enthusiasts of all types, died Sunday after battling kidney and heart disease. He was 68.
Friends and associates were invited to a celebration of his life and his legacy today from 6 to 8 p.m. at the Ogden Nature Center, 966 W. 12th Street, Ogden. A private Mass and internment will be held by the family at a later date.
It was just this May during the Great Salt Lake Bird Festival that the Farmington resident led two birding tours to Deseret Ranch, as well as hosted a workshop on “Birding For Families,” said Neka Roundy, chairwoman of the Davis County Great Salt Lake Bird Festival.
“We are just devastated,” Roundy said of Fenimore’s death. She said Fenimore was “the bird expert of Utah.”
“He had a lot of enthusiasm and passion. And when you look up the word enthusiasm, it means ‘God within us,'” Roundy said.
But in addition to his work out in the field, Roundy said, it may be Fenimore’s work on Capitol Hill that he will be remembered for.
Fenimore was instrumental in educating the state Legislature about bringing together non-consumptive wildlife enthusiasts, those who use a camera, with the consumptive enthusiasts, hunters, to get most out of the Utah habitat, Roundy said.
It was Fenimore’s forward thinking that made Utah a better place, she said.
“Huge asset,” Roundy added. “Our community has lost a strong advocate here. But we are all better for sharing in his enthusiasm.”
In addition to being a conservationist, wildlife enthusiast, birding guide and lecturer, Fenimore was also a businessman, opening in 2001 the Wild About Birds Nature Center in Layton.
Fenimore also did volunteer work for the Utah Division of Wildlife Resources and recently completed a term on the Utah Wildlife Board, which sets wildlife management policy and direction in Utah.
Fenimore’s awards included “Birder of the Year” from the Great Salt Lake Bird Festival; the American Birding Association’s Ludlow Grissom Award; and the Roger Tory Peterson National History Institute’s “Nature Education Achievement Award.”
Utah DWR Director Greg Sheehan said Fenimore just completed a six-year term on the Utah Wildlife Board, in addition to serving eight years on the Regional Advisory Council.
“He was the passion of birding in Utah. Bill (Fenimore) brought the passion and the love of sharing birding with our citizens,” Sheehan said, who was conducting Fenimore’s celebration today.
“His service and knowledge were invaluable that he brought to our wildlife management processes. He will be missed,” Sheehan said.
But as much as Fenimore loved wildlife, his son Billy Fenimore IV said he loved people as well.
“He was a loving father,” Fenimore said. And his dad, he said, really loved his mother, Estrella. “He gave so much of his heart to everybody else.”
Billy Fenimore IV said he only hopes to be able to continue his father’s legacy.
Contact reporter Bryon Saxton at 801-625-4244 or bsaxton@standard.net. Follow him on Twitter at @BryonSaxton.