Tuesday, October 16, 2007

Martha Stewart - Certified Wildlife Habitat

National Wildlife Federation certified its 80,000th wildlife habitat, and it’s a big one: Martha Stewart’s 150-acre estate in Westchester County, New York.

The property, a mix of woods and open fields, is prime habitat for many native species. Stewart hosted NWF naturalist Dave Mizejewski on an April episode of her television program, where he certified her property and demonstrated how to build nesting boxes for eastern screech owls and barn owls. “One of the reasons I bought this property was because I really love to observe wildlife - especially birds,” says Stewart. She also appreciates the way that owls keep down the populations of garden pests such as voles.

“The biggest threat to wildlife is habitat loss,” says Mizejewski, who also cohosts the Backyard Habitat show on Animal Planet. In order to combat that threat, in 1973 the Federation developed a program that encourages people to equip their yards with the four elements essential to wildlife survival: food, water, shelter and places to raise young.

Formerly known as the Backyard Wildlife Habitat program, NWF’s Certified Wildlife Habitat™ program has expanded to include schools, businesses, places of worship and even entire communities, among others. Certified gardens can be found at Anheuser-Busch Adventure Parks, Disney’s Animal Kingdom, and the governors’ residences in Ohio and Indiana.

Read the entire article.

Get information on the Certified Wildlife Habitat program.

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