Future of the axe driver?

I've got a Netgear FA120 usb-to-ethernet device.  I don't use it
regularly, but it has saved the day on many occasions.

I'm running FreeBSD 7.1 right now, not CURRENT, and this device is
supported by the axe driver.

I've been trying to follow the news with CURRENT, and it sounds like axe
is being phased out for a couple of different reasons.  I saw posts about
how it doesn't fit with the way CURRENT wants to do locking or with the
new usb changes.  I browsed the CVS repository and saw that its code had
been moved into the attic this week.

Has axe been phased out?  Will there be another driver to support my
device when I decide to move to FreeBSD 8?  Is there anything I can do to
help preserve support for this device?