Backyard Conservation
Conservation begins at home. With this in mind, we evaluated the available backyard habitat programs offered by several organizations and found that the one offered by the USDA Natural Resource Conservation Service provides the best fit for both rural and urban areas of the Olympic Peninsula. Firmly grounded in the principle of bringing conservation from the countryside to your backyard, this program will give you practical tools for providing excellent stewardship of the natural resources close to your home.
Whether your yard is measured in acres, feet, or flowerpots, there's something here for you. The downloadable 28 page book contains ten conservation activities, adapted from farms and ranches, that you can use at home, whether you live in the countryside or in town. The activities you find there are supplemented with additional information in these downloadable tip sheets:
Backyard Wetland
Even though they can start at home, backyard habitat projects don't have to stay at home. You can get together with other families to build them at community gathering places and at work. You can work with your local schools to put conservation to work on your community's school grounds, helping local children learn about wildlife and habitat first-hand.
There's no need to do it all at once. Whenever you find time, you can plant a tree or shrub, or perhaps put up a bird feeder, nesting box, or another feature that will welcome wildlife to your home. Little by little, and bit by bit, you can enhance wildlife habitat and improve your property values.
We're very interested in what you do to enhance wildlife habitat where you live, work, and play. If you take photos of your starting point, and then while you are making changes to your yard, you can create a "before and after" album that you can share with family and friends . . . and hopefully with us!
