Create Wildlife Habitat Anytime, Anywhere

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Along the eroding irrigation ditch we'll once again put in a fence to keep the livestock out, and establish some hardwood shrubs to provide bird nesting and feeding areas and to help hold the soil. We're also planning to excavate a small pond, stock it with fish, and plant some cattails and rushes . . . in hopes of attracting nesting mallards and red-winged blackbirds. And, if one of the 100-year-old cottonwoods around our house dies, we'll trim it down to a safe size and leave it as a snag.

Each one of us can, you see, do something to re-create the right environment for whatever wildlife was on our land before we came. It takes a little planning, but there are lots of people willing to help: the Soil Conservation Service, your state's fish and wildlife department, the U.S. Forest Service, and the agricultural extension service at universities . . . to name a few good sources of information, alternatives, and—sometimes—even the free or inexpensive seedlings you need!

You can stop using chemical insecticides, too . . . remembering that of the 86,000 species of insects in our country, 76,000 are more of a help than a hindrance! When planting windbreaks, you can choose varieties that will provide food and shelter for animals and birds. And don't use up every square foot of your property for human consumption crops. Let a little of it revert to its native flora.

Perhaps most important, always be assured that whatever you do—no matter how small the contribution may seem to be— will make a difference . . . to the wildlife . . . to you . . . and to the world your children's children will inherit.

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