For some kids, a wildlife
habitat is close at hand

From left to right, Jessica and Aron Hendin and Monica Streeter.

Twelve-year-old Jessica Hendin and her 9-year-old sister Aron don't have to go far to be in an official wildlife habitat area. They've got one in their backyard in Chesterfield.

And 12-year-old Monica Streeter hopes her family's home gets certified soon.

These kids and their families are part of a "Grow Native" effort in Chesterfield.

The Chesterfield Citizen's Committee for the Environment (CCE) is leading the effort. The goal is to enlist 700 local families who will get their backyards certified as official wildlife habitats.

To do that, families need to follow rules of the National Wildlife Federation.

To get certification, families have to agree to raise plants that provide food for wildlife. They also have to maintain plant cover so the wild animals and birds can raise their young.

For Jessica and Aron, that meant helping plant an organic garden and putting out bird feeders. They used plant compost to loosen and fertilize the soil. They even planted flowers such as marigolds that help control garden pests naturally.

For their effort, they get to harvest fresh vegetables grown without using chemical fertilizers or pesticides.

They also can view from their kitchen and bedroom windows all sorts of neat wildlife. Among the visitors are deer, foxes, coyotes and owls as well as large and small birds.

Jessica is a 6th grader at Parkway Central Middle School. She said, "The birds even helped plant corn and sunflowers in our garden."

She was referring to the seeds the birds knocked to the ground while they were using the backyard aerial bird feeder. The seeds dropped into the composted dirt in their nearby garden and then sprouted.

The wildlife habitat sign in the backyard of Jessica and Aron.

Aron is a 4th grader at Solomon Specter Day School. She said she likes to take hikes in the woods, starting in her backyard. Their home is on a bluff overlooking the Creve Coeur Creek. That gives them access to lots of wooded common ground in their sub-division.

Monica is a 7th grader at Parkway Central Middle School. She and her family have all the things in place to get their backyard recognized as a wildlife habitat. Her parents just need to fill out the registration form and send it to the National Wildlife Federation.

She's helped to establish a miniature butterfly garden in her backyard. The garden has native plants that serve as both food and shelter for butterflies.

Another feature is a hummingbird feeding station. "We have six hummingbirds who come back every year. They're getting pretty tame now," Monica said.

In addition to the hummingbird feeding station, the family has planted hibiscus plants. These provide a natural food source for hummingbirds.

Monica also has feeders for other birds in her backyard. She made those feeders as a Girl Scout project.

She and her family also have nearby wooded common ground that extends their wildlife protection area.

(You can learn more about the Backyard Wildlife Habitat program. Just go to the National Wildlife Federation's website at www.nwf.org. There is a special section just for the backyard habitat program. It includes a registration form.)

Darcy Capstick is chairman of Chesterfield's CCE.

There's more to the "Grow Native" than just signing up 700 families to establish backyard wildlife habitats. The group also works with schools to set up habitats on school grounds.

The Chesterfield area has some great wildlife habitat resources. The Sachs Butterfly House and Education Center is nearby in Faust Park. That county park is reestablishing a native prairie within its boundaries.

There's also the Monsanto-Pharmacia-Chesterfield Village with its evolving prairie lands.

The Chesterfield CCE has held workshops to explain their "back to nature" efforts. These are open to the public.

Next spring, the City of Chesterfield plans to repeat its annual Tree, Earth and Arbor Day. The Community Wildlife Habitat program was a key feature of last April's celebration.

The CCE also plans to repeat its "Grow Native" symposium about establishing backyard or work-place wildlife habitats. For information you can call Capstick at (636) 532-2008.