Backyard Wildlife Sanctuary/Elizabeth Rodrick

Good environmental stewardship begins in our own backyards. A bald eagle soars over a high bluff surveying the waters below. A red-tailed hawk with outstretched wings drifts effortlessly over a forest and open field. Hummingbirds zip by your window on their way to the flower garden. The morning dew highlights fragile spider webs at the forest edge. This is Washington State — a great place to live.

A land we all love, yet one we may be smothering with our numbers. Over 35,000 acres of wildlife habitat is converted to housing and other development each year here in Washington. If we continue at this rate, many of our native wildlife species will have few places to live and visit. So the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife instituted the Backyard Wildlife Sanctuary Program to help offset some of this habitat loss. While many of us may not realize it, a property owner is also a habitat manager. The things we do, or do not do, in the vicinity of our home have an effect on the quality of habitat for dozens of wildlife species.

Come hear this about this program to help you understand and appreciate the wildlife around your home. You can make your property a better place for songbirds and other wildlife species that have lived in your area long before people began to settle.

Elizabeth Rodrick recently retired after 35 years with the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife. She worked on western gray squirrels, bald eagle nest protection, and snag management, and helped protect over 200,000 acres of wildlife habitat across the state.

BHAS speaker series is held on the second Thursday of each month (except March, June, July, and August) at the Temple Beth Hatfiloh (corner of 8th and Washington in downtown Olympia, a block west of Timberland Library). Arrive at 7 p.m. to socialize; programs begin promptly at 7:30 pm.