New Pollinator Conservation Resource Center Online!

The Xerces Society’s Pollinator Conservation Resource Center is now on-line! Containing a wealth of information, the resource center gives access to all you need to complete a pollinator conservation project in any region of the United States. When you visit the resource center, select your region from the map to access plant lists, details of creating and managing nest sites, pesticide protection guides, and practical guidance on planning and implementing habitat projects on farmlands, gardens, golf courses, parks, and wildlands.

Schoolyard Habitat: Stewardship through Action

The Schoolyard Habitat program helps teachers and students create wildlife habitat on school grounds. Habitat is the collective term for the food, water, shelter and nursery areas that all wildlife needs to survive. The loss of habitat is one of the greatest threats facing wildlife today.
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service provides and coordinates with other agencies to give technical assistance and project guidance; provides teacher training; develops written resources; and works with the state Departments of Education on incorporating habitat issues into new school construction and renovation projects.

Benefits of the Schoolyard Habitat program include:

• Improved habitat: Schoolyard habitat projects provide habitat for local and migratory wildlife including songbirds, shorebirds, small mammals, reptiles, amphibians and insects. In many cases, these habitats also provide a vegetative buffer to nearby streams, reducing pollution reaching these waterways.
• Teaching and learning: Schoolyard habitats offer many teaching and learning opportunities in English, science, mathematics, history, geography, social studies and art. The process of planning, creating and using a habitat provides children with unique hands-on experiences. Research shows that using the environment as a focal point of teaching improves student performance.
• Stewardship: During the formative years of life, students develop perceptions and values about their environment. If designed and managed properly, schoolyards can provide students a powerful example of land stewardship. Conversely, it is less likely that students will develop a sense of stewardship if attending a barren, poorly managed schoolyard.
• Social development: Experts know that young children are driven to explore, discover and play while refining motor skills. A well-designed schoolyard including a diversity of natural areas, allows students to exercise these innate needs leading to a happier and more fulfilled childhood. Older students and adults also benefit. Research shows that most people are more relaxed in a natural landscape.

If you are interested in improving your schoolyard's habitat, contact Karen Kelly-Mullin, 410/573-4510, or you can download a copy of the Schoolyard Habitat Project Guide in .pdf format (2.1 megabytes). For more information, see the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service website: http://www.fws.gov/chesapeakebay/schoolyd.html

October 17th is Duwamish Alive!

Join the Duwamish River Cleanup Coalition for habitat restoration at nine sites along the Duwamish River including Hamm Creek, Herring House by Kellogg Island, and the kayak river cleanup. For more information, see the Duwamish River Cleanup Coalition's website: http://www.duwamishcleanup.org/programs.html#DuwamishAlive For more information about the Superfund site, see http://www.duwamishcleanup.org/superfund.html

Grants for Frog Ponds!

Tree Walkers International (TWI), an organization dedicated to the conservation of amphibians, is offering $1,000 awards to organizations in Washington, Idaho, and Montanafor the creation of wetland habitats for amphibians and environmental education. Awardees will receive up to $1,000 for materials and/or labor to construct or restore suitable breeding habitat for local native amphibians. These awards are administered under Operation Frog Pond (OFP), a program of TWI that promotes the conservation of native amphibians through backyard and schoolyard habitat projects.

A major aspect of OFP is working with teachers and students to construct frog ponds at their schools, providing crucial breeding habitat for amphibians in developed areas as well as outdoor classrooms where students can learn about the importance of the environment through hands-on opportunities and experiences.

Upon being awarded an OFP grant, a regional coordinator will work with you and your students to design and construct a pond from start to finish, so don’t let a lack of knowledge of experience in pond building prevent you from applying.

For more information about Operation Frog Pond, see the TWI website. If you have any questions, feel free to contact Ron Skylstad (Director and PNW Regional Coordinator) via e-mail at ron@treewalkers.org

Annual Fall Fecal Fest--Drawing for Zoo Doo and Bedspread sale!

WHAT: Fall is around the corner, which means it’s time for Woodland Park Zoo’s annual Fall Fecal Fest. Garden enthusiasts and Zoo Doo loyalists, get ready to enter a drawing to purchase the highly coveted Zoo Doo. The pungent piles of poop make up the richest, highly aromatic, most exotic compost in the Pacific Northwest. This year there is less Zoo Doo to go around, making the lottery more competitive.

Also available is Bedspread, a composted mulch made from the manures and bedding of the zoo’s non-primate herbivores. Bedspread is like Zoo Doo but contains higher amounts of wood chips and sawdust. It is excellent fertile mulch for perennial beds and woody landscapes such as native gardens, rose beds, shrubs, tree rings or pathways, and is an ideal mulch and soil builder for Northwest gardens.

WHEN: Dr. Doo is accepting entry cards for Zoo Doo or Bedspread from September 11 through September 25 only. Entry cards will be randomly selected according to supply and demand. Dr. Doo will contact the lucky drawn entries only. The Fecal Fest traditionally sells out.

Pick-up dates begin October 9 through October 25. The lucky winners load the compost, using shovels provided by the zoo.

HOW: Only one postcard per person is eligible for the drawing. Phone orders will not be taken. Send a standard postcard to Zoo Doo, Woodland Park Zoo, 601 N. 59th St., Seattle, WA 98103.

Include the following information:

• Name
• Day/evening phone numbers
• Preference: Zoo Doo or Bedspread
• Amount of Zoo Doo or Bedspread you’d like to purchase (anything from a garbage bag to a full-size pick-up truck load)
• Weekday or weekend preference for pick-up

PRICES: Zoo Doo and Bedspread: Pick-up truck 8x4 bed: $60; 6x4 bed: $45; 6x3 bed: $35. Garbage cans: $8 to $10; bags: $4 to $6 depending on size. Limit one full truck per person. Two-gallon and pint-sized buckets are available in the ZooStore for $14.95 and $4.95, respectively.

INFO: For more information, call the poop line at 206.625.POOP or visit the zoo’s website at http://www.zoo.org/.

Sept. 11-13: Puget Sound Bird Fest!

The spotlight will be on birds once again at PUGET SOUND BIRD FEST in Edmonds, Friday through Sunday, September 11-13! This year’s festival will feature many of the same activities as in past years, as well as some new opportunities to learn about and observe birds at home in their habitats. For more information, see their website.

New Northwest Zoo & Aquarium Alliance Resources!

NEW Backyard Habitat Website
The NW Zoo & Aquarium Alliance—of which Woodland Park Zoo is a member—has created a comprehensive website dedicated to providing you with detailed information and resources as you continue providing habitat for wildlife in your backyard, schoolyard or community garden: http://www.nwzaa.org/project-pages/backyard.html

Certify your Yard with Three Partners!
The NW Zoo & Aquarium Alliance (NWZAA) has joined forces with National Wildlife Federation (NWF) and Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife (WDFW) to offer partner certification for certifying your backyard wildlife habitat. You fill out one application and are certified by three organizations! For more information and links on how to certify, checkout NWAA's website: http://www.nwzaa.org/project-pages/backyard15.html Already certified with NWF and/or WDFW? Contact NWZAA Backyard Habitat Coordinator Jenny Mears at jenny.mears@zoo.org or 206-548-2557 for your FREE NWZAA certification package!