Wildlife Habitat Council- Corporate Lands for Learning

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CLL News

The Wildlife Habitat Council and Partners prepare for National Environmental Education Week

Take a child outdoors!

Environmental Education Week (EE Week, http://eeweek.org) is April 11^th to 17^th and is a great time to take your child outdoors. Take advantage of your company’s habitat enhancement program as a setting for outdoor activities with your child. Many celebrations offer opportunities for an outing on your company’s campus, including Take Our Daughters and Sons to Work Day (http://daughtersandsonstowork.org), and Earth Day (http://earthday.net).

For today’s children, outdoor activity in the natural environment has taken a back seat to television, video games, the computer and a demanding schoolwork and extracurricular schedule. While losing contact with the natural environment, youth are missing key opportunities for physical activity, stress reduction, attention restoration and healthy development.

For ideas about incorporating the outdoors into learning and play activities, check out this flyer, developed by the Council in cooperation with partner, the National Environmental Education Foundation. There are activities, resources, and lessons for you to use to make your Environmental Education Week, or any outdoor activity, a fun and interesting adventure.

Spring Events at the New Beginnings Woodlawn Wildlife Area

Community members and volunteers will celebrate Earth Day on Saturday, April 24, 2010, 11:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m.! Everyone is invited to help plant trees and learn about the history of Earth Day, why it is important, and simple practices you can do to help protect the planet we share and live on.

On Saturday May 15, 2010, New Beginnings will host our 2^nd Annual Native Plant Sale. Support the Boys and Girls Club of Cecil County by purchasing your spring plants at the event. Many species of native plants and trees will be available for sale from 10:00-3:00 with all proceeds benefiting the Boys and Girls Clubs of Cecil County Maryland, Inc. Check back to the website soon to see a complete list of species available.

BASF, Rensselaer to begin construction of new classroom

Construction is slated to begin April 8^th, 2010, for the newest addition to the BASF Rensselaer Closed Landfill wildlife habitat area. This building is going to serve as the new Education Center, “a start and end point for field trips out to the [Rensselaer Closed Landfill] refuge trails, where students can learn how industry is tied to the environment,” says Doug Reid-Green, senior environmental specialist in the Ecology & Safety Department of the landfill. Students will gather there to reflect and discuss what they learned on site. In addition it will be used as a meeting area for various groups and agencies including the Sewer Authority and the local Horticulture Club.

BASF representatives hope that by building this LEED Platinum rated learning area, they will be better able to showcase their efforts to enhance wildlife habitat and teach others about the benefits of green building, storm water management and native plantings. “It saves money and is better for the environment,” says Mr. Reid-Green.

The long term goals of the program’s leaders include connecting the refuge area trails to those already maintained by the local park system and working with other BASF locations in Williamsburg, VA, and Tom’s River, NJ, to build a cooperative program along the Atlantic Migratory Bird Flyway. Doug adds that “the Council has really shown us the way, in terms of getting programs up and running and really melding green initiatives with company goals.”

Couple donates hundreds of hours, honored as
Community Partner of the Year

Linda and Al Thrower earned WHC’s Community Partner of the Year award for their energetic and knowledgeable contributions to bird research and conservation at Ontario Power Generation’s Nanticoke Generating Station. A panel of third-party judges gave the Throwers top honors out of a field of nine excellent finalists. The couple

Linda and Al Thrower are instrumental to the Ontario Power Generation, Nanticoke Generating Station nest box program.

volunteered over 300 hours since 2007 in support of the generating station’s Wildlife at Work and Corporate Lands for Learning programs. The Throwers managed and maintained a network of 100 nest boxes and engaged in bird banding, data gathering and winter bird surveys. In addition, they led winter nest box cleanouts with the Boy Scouts; actively participated in conservation events such as Environment Week celebrations; and initiated new relationships and partnerships with organizations such as Girl Guides, the Ruthven Park Banding Laboratory and the Royal Ontario Museum. The Throwers’ energy is integral to the fulfillment of the Nanticoke Generating Station’s Corporate Lands for Learning mission to “instill wildlife habitat values in the Nanticoke employees and the surrounding community and inspire participation in wildlife habitat projects.”

WHC’s Community Partner of the Year award, introduced in 1998, is an opportunity to recognize one organization or individual for significant contribution to a site's wildlife habitat enhancement and conservation education programs. Sites may nominate local partners who help plan, implement and sustain their programs. The nomination form is available at http://www.wildlifehc.org/apply/. Nominees are recognized and the winner is named at WHC’s annual symposium in November.