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THIS WEEK at HILTON POND Installment #--- (Back to Preceding Week; on to Next Week) |
ON BECOMING A CERTIFIED It may belabor the obvious to say Hilton Pond Center is a "wildlife habitat." Even a cursory look at the Center's Web site reveals this 11-acre tract in the South Carolina Piedmont is home to a wide variety of fauna, from beetles to bullfrogs and copperheads to cotton rats. It has been our goal since acquiring the property in 1982 to create-- intentionally or through benign neglect--a tract as amenable to wildlife as possible. We've been reasonably successful, and now we're pleased to announce that Hilton Pond Center is officially recognized as a "Certified Backyard Wildlife Habitat," according to the standards of the National Wildlife Federation (NWF). All photos & text © Hilton Pond Center
Along with the completed application form, NWF also requested photos or sketches of several habitats at Hilton Pond Center, and we were able to refer them to a wide selection of images on the Center's Web site. NWF says that in the years since its program began in 1973, "Backyard Wildlife Habitats have sprouted in urban, suburban, and rural sites . . . from post offices, schools, and places of worship, to hospitals, community parks, and municipal facilities. The majority can be found at residential properties . . . ." Some of these sites are tiny inner-city yards or enclosed courtyards at nursing homes, while others may be hundred-acre nature reserves. The point is that virtually ANY piece of property can be a wildlife habitat, and the world would be a much better place if EVERY landowner made an attempt to make that property compatible with wildlife in some small way. Every little bit DOES help, so you don't have to be landed gentry or hold a degree in conservation biology to qualify for Backyard Wildlife Habitat recognition from the National Wildlife Federation. Hilton Pond Center (above left) may have been a little slow in applying to NWF for its official certification as a Backyard Wildlife Habitat, but we're still proud to become the 31,005th property so designated. And we're taking this space to brag on our certificate in the hope it will stimulate you to do what you can to make your yard certifiable AND that you'll take the time to send your own application to the National Wildlife Federation. (If you're really industrious, you might even consider establishing a Community Wildlife Habitat that involves at least 20% of its single-family homes, 10% of the apartment buildings, a Schoolyard Habitat, and a demonstration habitat at a workplace or other public site.) So quit maintaining your sterile, manicured lawn; plant some native fruit-bearing shrubs; don't cut that snag (right) that could provide a woodpecker home; put in a water garden; keep your house cat indoors; visit the National Wildlife Federation's Web site for details on the Backyard Wildlife Habitat Program; and support your NWF State Affiliate in its efforts to help protect flora and fauna in your own backyard. Do any or all of this and we're willing to bet the local wildlife will appreciate--or at least benefit from--each of your thoughtful actions. If you enjoy "This Week at Hilton Pond," please help Support Hilton Pond Center for Piedmont Natural History. It's painless, and YOU can make a difference! You may wish to consult our Index of all nature topics covered since February 2000. |
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Hilton Pond Center for Piedmont Natural History is a non-profit research & education organization in York, South Carolina USA; phone (803) 684-5852. Directed by Bill Hilton Jr., aka The Piedmont Naturalist, it is the parent organization for Operation RubyThroat. Contents of this Web site--including articles and photos--may NOT be duplicated, modified, or used in any way except with the express written permission of Hilton Pond Center. All rights reserved worldwide. To obtain permission for use or for further assistance on accessing this Web site, contact the Webmaster. |