Michael E. Murray left by Greyhound bus 4:00 pm Thanksgiving day 2007 from the Lewiston, ME terminal to travel cross country making his way on the 7180 mile journey for a four month stay and a once in a lifetime opportunity to lend his construction talents for the betterment of the Cooper Island Encampment. A life long resident of Maine, he gave notice to his employer at The Dingley Press , saying farewell to one of Maine’s worst winters on record eagerly signed on to this South Pacific adventure. Four plane flights passing through TSA checkpoints and several days later, Maritime Air’s turbo prop plane set down on the one-mile long Cooper Island runway the beginning of Murray's four-month adventure! The Nature Conservancy along with The National Fish and Wildlife Service purchased the privately owned atoll to save this necklace of emerald inlets in the South Pacific during 2000 for mankind. Construction crews soon built the Cooper Camp establishing a small base of operations. Soon after a seasonal rotational community made up of scientist and TNC employees began living in open-air cabins calling Palmyra home for their brief stays. The winter rotation 07/08 population four made up of Murray, Dennis Girardot, Station Manager, Will mechanic and Karen camp chef spent their days servicing the Atoll by way of their specialties and talents. March 17th with the return of Maritime Air marked the end of the tour for three of the four island castaways replaced by the spring rotation crew eager to step into their roles proudly working for the betterment of Palmyra and the TNC mission.