Uniting a Wildlife

Towne Lake Neighborhoods to Be Largest Cooperative Effort

BY ANN LITREL

Recently, the wildlife habitat committees for Eagle Watch, The Arbors and Wyngate met to share successes and to plan for Towne Lake efforts in 2023.

The long-term goal is ambitious: make Towne Lake the largest cooperative habitat effort in the country. When successful, Towne Lake will unite the largest number of neighborhoods working together to create a Certified Wildlife Habitat. (Some certified cities are larger in terms of acreage, but they are single-community habitats.)

Wildlife habitats are certified through the National Wildlife Federation (NWF). Certifying is easy, guided by a checklist of simple steps to make your yard a healthy home for songbirds, wildlife, butterflies and bees. The elements include food and water sources, cover and healthy landscaping practices.

“Just provide the basics, and the birds and wildlife show up,” Wyngate Chair Jennifer Ruscilli said. “Most Towne Lake yards qualify with few or no changes because we have so many trees, evergreens and natural mulched areas.”

Wyngate

Jennifer, a Master Gardener and past president of the Cherokee chapter, is leading the charge to earn points for Wyngate’s certification. Wyngate has gained a number of certified yards toward the target of 100, and the committee is planning activities, including neighborhood plant sales and family wildlife education events. Jennifer invites interested neighbors to join the committee.

Eagle Watch

Mary Schuster, Master Gardener and member of the Eagle Watch Wildlife Habitat committee, said: “I want to make a difference for our birds and pollinators. That’s one of the reasons I joined.”

In late 2022, Eagle Watch installed a new butterfly conservation garden, located at the entrance to the parking area for the main pool and tennis courts. The plot will serve as a trial garden for the community, featuring natives and perennials that neighborhood gardeners have found to be deer-resistant.

Later this year, there are plans to install nature-center type signage. Its photographs will help residents identify what plants are in the garden and what butterflies and wildlife they support.

Eagle Watch, now with 179 certified habitat yards, was the first Towne Lake community to achieve certified status in fall 2021.