Backyard Conservation Continues to Grow Since 1996, the Wildlife Habitat Council (WHC) and USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) have had an ongoing Memoranda of Understanding (MOU). The objectives of WHC’s partnership with NRCS incorporate the Backyard Conservation Program into nonagricultural and corporately owned land. Under this agreement, WHC works to pilot a Backyard Conservation outreach program with residential developers and communities, as well as retirement communities. If your retirement community or residential development group is interested in getting involved with the Backyard Conservation program, please contact Whc@wildlifehc.org. At Riderwood in Silver Spring, Maryland, is a pilot project of the Wildlife Habitat Council for retirement community involvement in the Backyard Conservation program. In the past year alone, the Backyard Conservation program at Riderwood has addressed subjects ranging from bats to invasive plants and from turtles to pollinators. Riderwood has already implemented several conservation projects on-site, including the maintenance of reforestation areas and a donation of land to Montgomery County, Maryland, where the property resides. Riderwood plans to expand its current efforts and augment existing wildlife-related programs for residents by implementing additional habitat and environmental education projects in cooperation with the surrounding community. Riderwood is part of the national network of communities developed and managed by Baltimore-based Erickson. Riderwood Achieves WHC Certification Imagine a day of pulling weeds for native plants to thrive, monitoring bird boxes where over 80 species of birds now fly or watching rescued red-eared sliders in the nearby pond floating by. These are among several conservation activities happening at Riderwood, an Erickson-built and managed retirement community in Silver Spring, Maryland, that is among the first retirement communities in the nation to earn habitat certification by the Wildlife Habitat Council. Anne Blackburn, a Riderwood resident who led the charge in making the community wildlife friendly, also accepted the 2005 Community Partner of the Year award at WHC’s 17th Annual Symposium, Shades of Green. Credited by Erickson Retirement Communities as being “a leader and initiator of the highest caliber,” Blackburn led Riderwood to be among the first retirement communities in the world to receive habitat certification through the Wildlife Habitat Council. Centex Homes and WHC In 2003, Centex Homes expressed interest in creating a wildlife management plan for Evergreen The Wildlife Habitat Council aspires to implement this type of Backyard Conservation program at other residential communities throughout the country. Read more about this Greenscaping venture. Sunrise Assisted Living of McLean WHC partnered with Sunrise Assisted Living of McLean in Virginia to develop a Backyard Conservation program for its residents and community members in 2003. Some of the residents are avid birders or gardeners. While some cannot always fully participate in projects, they provide expertise from their personal gardening experiences. Even those who do not participate share in the sense of pride and ownership that these projects are taking place in and around their home. Several Backyard Conservation workshops with local groups and Sunrise residents were conducted. The workshops included a lake clean-up and a Backyard Bats workshop with local Cub Scout Pack 1144 Den 6. Jason Taylor, a biologist from the Ecological Society of America, addressed scouts and residents on various bat species, their biology and bat conservation needs. Students joined in various projects planting shrubs and flowers within raised beds that will provide habitat for local songbirds. Songbirds, as well as bats, are beneficial because they serve as a natural form of insect control and they play an important role in seed dispersal. The students planted a vegetable garden and created a pollinator garden for native butterflies and bees. They learned about methods of biological control and integrated pest management practices that can be used to help control garden pests. These important lessons can be taken home where students can create additional wildlife habitat within their communities and their own backyards. |
