Limpkin January 2003

National Wildlife Federation Backyard Habitat Program

By Betsy Franz

I have always been an avid nature lover, and this interest recently led me to sign up with the National Wildlife Federation to become a Wildlife Habitat Steward trainer. My original desire was to receive training so that I could go before small groups (perhaps students, boy scouts, teachers, etc.) to teach them how to create wildlife habitats at their schools or homes. However, during the course of my training, my enthusiasm for the importance of this program grew, and along with it, my goals for what I wanted to achieve for myself and for our county.

I originally thought of Backyard Wildlife Habitats as something that people created for themselves; a place that human beings “lured” wildlife into their yards for their own viewing pleasure. The extensive reading and homework projects assigned by the National Wildlife Federation enlightened me to the true importance of these backyard areas as places of refuge for species whose natural habitat is being quickly encroached upon by new construction, nonnative plants and chemical landscaping procedures.

So, I came up with a lofty new goal. My goal now is to educate as many people as I can about the importance of backyard wildlife areas and to eventually have Brevard County obtain the highest number of National Wildlife Federation certified Backyard Wildlife Habitats in the state. Currently, Broward County has the highest number of certified habitats at 220, while Brevard is second with 117. I think that by presenting this challenging goal to the residents of Brevard County, we may be able to make a tremendous difference to the wildlife and natural beauty of our area.

This is a very exciting project for Brevard County! Since the National Wildlife Federation is such a well known organization, reaching this goal will give national recognition to our County and how wildlife friendly we are.

If you are not familiar with the National Wildlife Federation’s Backyard Habitat Program, basically, they encourage people to create (or preserve) an environment which provides the four basic needs of wildlife: food, water, shelter and a place to raise their young. But rather then just suggesting bird feeders and birdbaths, they stress the importance of using native plants and chemical-free practices, etc. More information can be found about this program at their web site at:

In order to provide training to others that may want to participate with this project, I have agreed to facilitate training sessions for anyone interested in becoming a National Wildlife Federation Habitat Steward Volunteer. This training is only given in a few locations throughout the state, so having the training in Brevard County is another big first for our area. Once the Stewards finish their training, they will be able to assist students, teachers, community organizations, local builders or families in designating and maintaining a wildlife habitat in their school yard, community, business or home. Since I don’t have the education or knowledge to teach this training myself, what I hope to do is get together as many guest speakers as I can who are enthusiastic and knowledgeable about appropriate subjects, such as Florida Native Plants, local birds, backyard wildlife, creating water features, organic practices in the yard, etc.

I am very excited to have this opportunity to work with the National Wildlife Federation on this project but also feel like I may have gotten myself in over my head. I thought that I would be able to get some enthusiastic volunteers to help me with this project, but so far, I have not succeeded. The requirement to become a National Wildlife Steward Volunteer is to attend 24 hours of training, so that is what I must plan and schedule. My goal was to have this training in late March or sometime in April of 2003.

I am eagerly searching for enthusiastic speakers, as well as other nature lovers and naturalists in the county who might be interested in helping me to plan and facilitate this training or to just provide suggestions which might allow me to make this project a success.

Eventually, I may try to seek sponsors to provide such things as refreshments, etc. for the trainees. I believe that I may be able to get Florida Today to provide some publicity to the project, since the Gannett Facility on U.S. 1 is one of the current certified habitats in our county.

I would like to hold part of this training in the new Environmental Center at the Enchanted Forest Sanctuary. This facility would be ideal, as it would give us a close-up view of local plants and wildlife and areas to participate with hands-on activities such as creating butterfly gardens or water features. Another thought was to have some of the training in one of the new classrooms at the Brevard Zoo. To cover 24 hours, the training would probably best be scheduled for two or more weekends.

If you would like to be a part of this exciting project, please contact me at any time, by e-mail (betsntom@netzero.net), or phone (321) 259-6585. At this point, I am particularly in need of enthusiastic, expert speakers, co-facilitators, planners, or even encouragement and helpful suggestions.

Also, please pass this message on to anyone that you can think of that might be interested in this project, or perhaps in taking the Steward training once it is scheduled.