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"When one tugs at a single thing in nature, he finds it attached to the rest of the world." -John Muir
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| WindStar Launches New Web Site & American Wildlife Blog |
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By Tom Patrick
FINALLY, the new WindStar Wildlife Institute website and American Wildlife Blog are live and ready for you to visit, participate and enjoy. We
have been working on these two services since last fall. Cary Snowden
of SquareCompass.com is our new webmaster and is located in Salt Lake
City, UT. I’ll let you do your own exploring on the site but I do want
to point out some of the new features: - Latest issue of the WindStar Wildlife Garden Weekly is posted, making it available to more people
- Archives of the Weekly are now available to WindStar Wildlife Institute members only
- All 37 of our Tips For Improving Your Wildlife Habitat pamphlet series are now available to WindStar Wildlife Institute members only
- A powerful search engine makes it possible to find whatever nature information you need on the site
- New features include
a Visitor’s Center, Member’s Center, Knowledge Center, News and Events,
Photo Gallery, plus Training Info which has the latest on our
e-Learning programs
- More Exclusive services and benefits if you are a member of WindStar Wildlife Institute
- American Wildlife Blog—topics of interest to nature lovers everywhere
You may be asking yourself the question “What is a blog?” It
sounds nasty--like something you wouldn’t want in your home. At least
that’s what I thought at first. I later found out that blog is short
for weblog. Okay! “A
weblog is a journal (or newsletter) that is frequently updated and
intended for general public consumption. Blogs generally represent the
personality of the author or the web site. “ I
sure hope that doesn’t mean that the blog will look like me! I can see
visitors to the blog dropping like flies. But, after further reflection
on the matter, I came to the conclusion that if WindStar’s American
Wildlife Blog represents the personality of our new website and
WindStar Wildlife Institute, it will be fine. Just
to make sure, we decided to use the services of John Jantsch of Duct
Tape Marketing, the blog guru for small businesses, Kansas City, MO to
set-up our blog. It replaces the “Wildlife Habitat Forum” on our former
website. The reason for the switch is because a blog format is easier
for our visitors to share their wildlife observations and experiences.
Plus, there is an opportunity to share your favorite nature
photographs. Anyone
can contribute to the blog plus, we also have about a dozen or two
WindStar blog reporters throughout North America to keep the content
interesting--we’ll tell you more about them later. We hope that you
will visit the blog regularly and contribute whenever you have
something to share with other nature lovers. Check
out all the new features. If you aren’t currently a member in good
standing, you’ll want to be, so you can access the member-only
services. Drop us a note at wildlife@windstar.org and tell us know what
you like or don’t like and how we can improve them. |
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| Quotations About Nature Submitted By Readers |
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"And
this our life, exempt from public haunts, finds tongues in trees, books
in running brooks, sermons in stones, and good in everything." ~William Shakespeare
"Earth, it is time.
The summer was very big.
Lay thy shadow on the sundials,
and on the meadows let the wind go loose."
--Rainer Maria Rilke
"Thou, nature, art my goddess, to thy law my services are bound." --William Shakespeare
"What
I have noticed in my small world is that if I praise the wildflowers
growing on the hill in front of my house, the following year they
double in profusion and brilliance. If I admire the squirrel that
swings from branch to branch outside my window, pretty soon I have
three or four squirrels to admire...The Universe responds. What you ask
of it, it gives...Peace will come wherever it is sincerely invited.
Love will overflow every sanctuary given it." ~Alice Walker
Submitted by:
Janet Thew
Loomis, CA
"Never
doubt that a small, group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change
the world. Indeed, it is the only thing that ever has." --Margaret Mead
Submitted by:
Ellen Sousa
Hudson, MA
This
quote always inspires me, especially when I feel overwhelmed and
despairing by the problems facing our environment and society.
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| National Master Naturalist Course Launched |
MYERSVILLE, MD—If
you love to feed, photograph or observe wildlife and want to know more
about them, you can do so with the new, advanced WindStar Wildlife
Institute home-study course.
Upon completion, individuals will become Certified National Master Naturalists.
“The
overall mission of the program is to develop a corps of well-informed
volunteers to provide education, outreach and service dedicated to the
beneficial management of natural resources, including wildlife and
wildlife habitat, on their properties and within their communities,”
says Tom Patrick, President.
“We want students to
inventory the elements and components of their wildlife habitat, learn
more about forest and wildlife management, decide what to add and
create a plan for making it happen,” says Patrick. “They can then
replicate this effort for others such as friends, relatives and
neighbors.”
According to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife
Service, more than 66 million people 16 years old and older—31 percent
of all Americans—fed, photographed and observed wildlife in 2001 and
spent $40 billion on these activities. Nearly 95 percent—63
million—enjoyed their activity around their homes.
Millions
of people now live in urban and urbanized areas. Many of these
residents and landowners are two to three generations removed from
direct land management (farming, ranching or forestry) and they rarely
seek traditional forms of outreach and extension prior to making their
land management decisions.
“This course can help
people develop their personal and professional environmental skills in
order to creatively tackle natural resource challenges,” says Patrick.
“And, they can do it at their own pace and times.”
The
course is divided into two parts—The Woods In Your Backyard and the
Wildlife In Your Backyard. Two of the DVD videos used in the
course—“How Birds Eat” and “Insect Defense”—were created by Dr. Ron
Goor, creator of the Smithsonian’s Insect Zoo, the first live insect
zoo in the U.S.
Special sections are devoted to: Plants,
Ornithology, Entomology, Herpetology, Mammalogy and Teaching Others
About Nature. Individuals will learn how to manage your land, map
it, and assess why you bought the land and what you hope to get out of
it. Plus, subjects like tree identification, forest and wildlife
management, water resources, best plants for wildlife, creating
wildflower meadows, lists of native plant nurseries and contractors,
recreation, aesthetic appeal and ways to improve each will be covered.
This
is the second e-learning program offered by WindStar. The first
certifies individuals as “Wildlife Habitat Naturalists.”
WindStar
Wildlife Institute is a national 501(c)(3) non-profit, conservation
organization whose mission and solution to the loss of native plants
and wildlife habitat focuses on effectively teaching wildlife habitat
improvement practices through proven methods such as "neighbor helping
neighbor" and "education through demonstration".
The Institute publishes two free periodicals-- “Wildlife Garden Weekly”, an e-Magazine and the “American Wildlife Blog.” An award-winning website provides a wealth of information for gardeners and wildlife enthusiasts.
Also,
the Institute certifies residential, commercial and rural wildlife
habitats in its American Wildlife Habitat Registry™ program.
Institute headquarters is located in Myersville, MD in an
earth-sheltered, passive solar structure with grass roof.
Individuals
can obtain additional information on both e-learning courses and
register for the courses by going to the website or calling
800-324-9044.
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