Program Director B.J. White models an owl 

 costume used in lessons about birds of prey. 



A visitor explores the 

 marsh's edge. 



Creative floorplans save trees. 



save large live oak trees, and the pile-driving machine needed 

 for construction was completely dismantled to avoid damaging 

 the maritime forest. 



Now, under Morgan's watch, the same philosophy guides 

 completion of the master plan as conference facilities and 

 bedrooms are added. Floorplans were rearranged to save trees, 

 and you won't see any bulldozers in the forest because every- 

 thing is hand-cut and pulled out with backhoes. Morgan says he 

 set a tone with the builders at the outset of construction: Don't 

 ruin the forest, and respect the animals that live there, snakes 

 included. 



"We're trying to do things in a way that doesn't impact the 

 trees or the support cover as it leads up to the maritime forest," 

 he says. "It costs a little more money, but it preserves the 

 integrity of the maritime forest a lot better." 



A trail ends at Sanders Point. 



Morgan came to the Trinity Center in 1990 as a volun- 

 teer, intent on putting his money-saving, cost-cutting talents 

 to work. He had retired from the U.S. Marine Corps as a 

 facilities engineer and had run several businesses in the 

 interim. A relaxing retirement stretched before him. But in 

 1991, he was back in the work force, this time as executive 

 director of the center. 



"That set the scene for me, exploring ways to save some 

 money and to do things a little better," he says, explaining his 

 transition from volunteer to leader. 



At his direction, changes have been made in the name 

 of conservation, preservation and old-fashioned penny- 

 pinching. Morgan can boast that his techniques have reduced 

 power expenses from 1 1 percent to 4 1/2 percent of the 

 center's income. Continued 



COASTWATCH 19 



