Hometown Habitat Heroes

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The Hometown Habitat crew has some great news! But 1st, a status update.

Director, Catherine Zimmerman, films students with Habitat Hero Todd Crail as they learn how native habitat on the land affects healthy stream life. photo Hal Mann

Director, Catherine Zimmerman, films students with Habitat Hero Todd Crail as they learn how native habitat on the land affects healthy stream life. photo Hal Mann

Residents of Cherry Creek 3 volunteer to re-landscape 251 townhome fronts with native and adapted plants.

Residents of Cherry Creek 3 volunteer to re-landscape 251 townhome fronts with native and adapted plants.  image Hometown Habitat

Hard to believe we are already in mid-July. The crew is back out on the road to finish getting pick-up shots.

Each story we travel to tell needs multiple visits to locations to tell the complete story. We revisited SE Florida to get mangrove planting, the Rocky Mountains to profile an HOA in their efforts to save water with better, native landscaping choices. They now save about 14 million gallons of water a year, while also providing habitat!

Bees, butterflies and Birds enjoy new found habitat at Cherry Creek 3

Bees, butterflies and birds enjoy new found habitat at HOA, Cherry Creek 3 image Hometown Habitat

And just last week we were in the Great Lakes region to complete our story with Wild Ones. Wild Ones have been advocating for native landscapes for more than 35 years.

Wild Ones, Linda and Dallas Howard, have turned their backyard, planted with native plants, into an oasis for pollinators and aquatic life.

Wild Ones, Linda and Dallas Howard, have turned their backyard, planted with native plants, into an oasis for pollinators and aquatic life.  photo Catherine B. Zimmerman

This month we complete the “development” story where the development paradigm has been turned upside down. Instead of “planting” 600 acres of houses, developers George and Vicky Rammey collaborated with ecologist Steve Apfelbaum to create a holistic, sustainable community. Half of the acreage is devoted to prairie habitat which manages storm water and provides other eco-system services such as carbon sequestration, cleaning water, building topsoil, pollinating food plants and, of course, providing oxygen. Along with this innovative approach to the land, the community incorporates organic farming and a charter school, which makes environmental issues part of its core curriculum.

Aerial view of Prairie Crossing, which celebrates its 20th birthday this August!

Aerial view of Prairie Crossing, which celebrates its 20th birthday this August! photo Steve Apfelbaum

So, a very exciting, educational film is in the works, and we need your support to make this happen. Our good news is we have an anonymous donor willing to match donations up to $5000. That means we can raise $10,000. So your $25 donation becomes $50 or your $100 donation becomes $200! If you would like to support this project, this is a great time to help us meet our goal and be part of a transformative film. Please, make our day!

Many thanks,

Catherine

 

 

 


 

Centro Hispano, Madison, Wisconsin

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Students learned how to measure slope, take soil samples and design a site for human and wildlife use.

Students learned how to measure slope, take soil samples and design a site for human and wildlife use.

Everyone (there were over 50 participants) in the Earth Partnership for Schools institute took a break and posed for out Hometown Habitat cameras.

With support from the Earth Partnership for Schools team, participants gain the tools for bringing ecological restoration home to their schools and communities.

With support from the Earth Partnership for Schools team, participants gain the tools for bringing ecological restoration home to their schools and communities.

 

This summer institute had a Latino focus and today was all about planning the installation of a rain garden and designing a community, family friendly outdoor activity center, featuring native plants, at Centro Hispano. “Centro Hispano works to improve the quality of life for Latinos in Dane Co. by empowering youth, strengthening families, and engaging the community.” The EPS workshop had a two fold purpose. First help the center design an ecologically sound make-over of their outdoor space. Second, give the institute teachers, students and families a chance to get hands on experience doing site analysis and design using math, science, art, and critical thinking skills.  The goal, bring ecological restoration into the classroom and community!

Wisconsin Wonderful!

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Corrie Daniels working to heal ecosystems.

Corrie Daniels, working for healthy ecosystems.

Wow! What a beautiful state and fantastic people!  Today we visited Corrie Daniels and her crew at Taylor Creek Restoration Nursery in Brodhead, WI.

Taylor Creek and sister company Applied Ecological Services, have been around for over 30 years providing native plants grown from locally collected seed as well as ecological design and restoration services.  Founder and sustainability visionary, Steve Apfelbaum, started all this back when “green” was just a color. We will be following Steve in the coming months to explore his approach to land use which brings ecological science to the design process creating a balance between human needs and ecosystem health.  Corrie says of her boss, “Steve is a dynamo. His passion, his absolute passion, is to bring health back to the earth.” Stayed tuned for more on this Wisconsin Habitat Hero!

One of the interesting little critters hanging out at the nursery!

One of the interesting little critters hanging out at the nursery!