As part of Earth Day 2007, the Wildlife Habitat Council joined with the Deep River Outdoor Education Center in Gary, Indiana, to launch a long-term sustainability effort in northwest Indiana. Teachers and students from West Side High School worked with the Shirley Heinze Land Trust, Sierra Club, U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service, U.S. National Park Service and conservation partners from northwestern Indiana to conduct the first biotic inventory of wetland habitats in the area. The inventory was the first step in the larger effort to enhance the native biodiversity of 74 acres of floodplain forests, wet prairie, wetlands and upland forests around the City of Gary.
West Side High School students take inventory of species found at the Deep River Outdoor Education Center in Gary, Indiana. Photo by Daniel Goldfarb, Program Manager/Ecologist, Wildlife Habitat Council. |
The students learned about the cultural and natural history of the center as well as the ecological function of wetlands at the center. Key plants and habitats were mapped by students under the guidance of a GIS/GPS Survey Specialist from the Gary Sanitary District, and several uncommon native plants were found through the survey, including sensitive fern (Onoclea sensibilis), swamp thistle (Cirsum muticum), swamp saxifrage (Saxifraga pensylvanica), and swamp goldenrod (Solidago patula).
The highlight of the survey, however, was the sighting of a pair of rare black-crowned night-herons (Nycticorax nycticorax). These herons are unusual for the Indiana Dunes area of northwest Indiana, but they are making a comeback in the wetlands of nearby Calumet River.
The restoration project at the Deep River Outdoor Education Center is part of a Five Star Restoration Matching Grant facilitated by WHC and funded by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. It will be expanded to include more high schools as a larger conservation education initiative for the Gary Community School Corporation, which manages the school system. This initiative is being funded by the Gaylord and Dorothy Donnelley Foundation of Chicago. WHC and U.S. National Park Service staff will train and work with student green teams at the center as well as create urban greenspaces on school campuses, such as rain gardens, native landscapes and constructed wetlands.
In early June, the students from West Side High School completed a detailed map of their inventory and observations at the center and will next create a management plan for the site and work on invasive species control. Go to more information on this and other Earth Day activities from the Wildlife Habitat Council.
National Environmental Education (EE) Week is the single largest organized environmental education event in the United States. It increases the educational impact of Earth Day by creating a full week of environmentally-themed lessons and activities in K-12 classrooms, nature centers, zoos, museums, and aquariums. Over the span of EE Week 2007 the combined efforts of nearly 1,450 schools, nature centers, museums, zoos, and other educational institutions taught over 3.5 million students about the importance of caring for our natural environment.
EE Week is coordinated by the National Environmental Education Foundation (NEEF) in cooperation with thousands of outstanding schools, environmental education organizations, education associations, and state and federal agencies.
