Environmental Stewards

[ThetisIslander]

Our community is starting up an nature stewards program. A small group of us are getting training to provide inspire and support homeowners to maintain at least 30% of their property in a natural/nature friendly state.

Working with homeowners we will identify their personal goals and develop a work plan to help them get there. Some may want to see more wildlife and will work to improve the habitat. Others will want to support threatened plants (climate change is doing a number on our cedar trees). A big part of it will be dealing with invasive species, particularly 'bully invasives'.

Just in our beginning stages, but with the international objective of 30 by 30, it is important that we do the work locally to support the goal.

[bae]

I live just across the border from you, in the San Juan Islands.

Some of our local organizations may have some resources/pointers for you:

FireSmart Canada (the equivalent of the USA's Firewise program): https://firesmartcanada.ca/

Friends of the San Juans: https://sanjuans.org/

San Juan Preservation Trust: https://sjpt.org/

WSU Noxious Weeds: https://extension.wsu.edu/sanjuan/noxious/

[ThetisIslander]

Thanks bae, will check these links out. Friends of San Juan definitely looks intriguing.

[Yppej]

I replaced my lawn with ground cover and perennials. No mowing for me. I have lots of small wild animals to the point that I don't try to garden because they just eat it up.

[ThetisIslander]

Cool. I am trying to replace my lawn with wild strawberries. Last year the chickens got onto the lawn and pulled up half of them, looking for the bugs underneath.

[Yppej]

Love wild strawberries.

[flowerseverywhere]

our Florida Native Plant society is very active with multiple chapters. https://www.fnps.org/
invasives are a particular problem here. There is no restriction on sellers so big box stores proudly display and sell them.

of interest in 2019 a law was passed so they cannot prohibit vegetables even in front yards. https://floridapolitics.com/archives...al-in-florida/
also even HOA’s cannot restrict clotheslines or solar panels, so we are not a total list cause

lawns to me are ridiculous due to the chemical and water needs.

[rosarugosa]

Our community is starting up an nature stewards program. A small group of us are getting training to provide inspire and support homeowners to maintain at least 30% of their property in a natural/nature friendly state.

Working with homeowners we will identify their personal goals and develop a work plan to help them get there. Some may want to see more wildlife and will work to improve the habitat. Others will want to support threatened plants (climate change is doing a number on our cedar trees). A big part of it will be dealing with invasive species, particularly 'bully invasives'.

Just in our beginning stages, but with the international objective of 30 by 30, it is important that we do the work locally to support the goal.

That sounds like a great project. Folks in my suburban town love the birds and bird watching, yet services to regularly spray properties for ticks and mosquitoes are flourishing. Those same people probably wonder why there are so few butterflies and fireflies around. Everyone loves the eagles we have living along the river, but they are quick to put out bait boxes with rodenticide to kill the rats without consideration of that rodenticide working its wat up the food chain. It doesn't seem like people are willing or able to look at the big picture.

[Teacher Terry]

When I had my house I used Astro turf so water wasn’t needed since we are in a drought. It was 10 years old and the new owners thought it was new and loved it. That was good as it’s made from plastic I would guess and I would hate to have it thrown away.