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Five Star = Corporate Concern for the Environment!

Corporate responsibility for the environment has become a common theme, and lessening human impact its subsequent goal. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, along with many other federal agencies, promotes new programs for sustainable development each year. It is now common knowledge that controlling environmental degradation is important to businesses, but a less visible problem exists: the lack of community projects to improve citizen relations and attitudes towards their towns and cities. While your company may choose one of many environmental programs, Five-Star is unique because it connects your company with the community to promote environmental ethics, thereby making restoration work even more effective.   

Participation in Five Star projects creates public recognition of your company as an environmental steward. Local volunteers and employees will enthusiastically participate in your company’s restoration work; to date, the program has seen the involvement of over 10,000 community volunteers. 

In addition to your direct interaction with local citizens, WHC recognizes member efforts in our publications and on our Web site, as well as on the Web sites of the U.S. EPA, National Association of Counties and others that are visited daily by thousands of viewers. Five Star projects are published in local newspapers and newsletters as well.

But don’t stop at Five Star! Projects can be easily converted to WHC’s Wildlife at Work and Corporate Lands for Learning wildlife habitat programs, and will thereby send an even stronger message of commitment to preserving and restoring natural areas in your community.

Get involved in Five Star

Apply for a Five Star grant. It’s never too early to begin planning your project. The best-suited candidates have well designed plans that meet all requirements: provide ecological, educational and socio-economical benefits to the community and include a diverse range of partner organizations.  The ideal applicant will have requested all necessary permits, made any amendments to their lease, prepared for regulatory requirements, and secured partner contributions.

If you’re not ready for the challenge of heading your own project, you can become a partner and contribute in other ways:

In-kind contributions of consultation services, volunteer work, land, or goods are valuable donations.  By offering your services to a nearby project, you return wildlife habitat in your area to a more sustainable system and add to the efforts made for long-term preservation.  

Cash donations allow the project officer to obtain supplies not provided by in-kind donations.  

Any contribution you make can be submitted for tax deduction, and you will see the benefits return your investment ten-fold!

Photo Courtesy of the Torstenson Family Wildlife Center.

Photo above: Through a $10,000 Five Star Restoration Grant, volunteers replanted approximately three miles of riparian corridor in lower Long Canyon on the Double H Ranch in New Mexico through the Long Canyon Riparian Restoration project. A major part of this project was installing rocked stream crossings, rock dams and other creek structures to capture silt from runoff and help restore normal stream function. Willows and maple trees were planted along the canyon to stabilize the stream bank, provide cover and nesting areas for wildlife and help retain water in the canyon.

The project provided many opportunities for hands-on conservation education for regional and national youth. Students from Albuquerque Academy in New Mexico helped plan the rock structures and also assisted with the grass and shrub plantings. The Boy Scouts of America Summer High Adventure Camp spent many hours on the project, providing more than 200 scouts to assist with construction of stream structures, while also receiving instruction about the area and its conservation and archeological significance. In addition, several tours of the project were conducted for landowners, federal and state agency personnel and ranchers.

Project partners included the Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation, U.S. Fish & Wildlife Partners Program, Boy Scouts of America, Ecological Interpretations, Mule Deer Foundation, Quivera Coalition, Albuquerque Academy and Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation High Schools for Habitat.

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