05/21/2009
Energy for Wildlife Partners Help Youth Make Lasting Memories Outdoors
SHELBY, Mich. — Energy for Wildlife members Great Lakes Energy Cooperative and Trees, Inc., recently helped 80 students at Thomas Read Elementary School in Shelby, Mich., celebrate Arbor Day — and make memories to last a lifetime.
 Photo credit: Loran Brinkmeier/NWTF Energy for Wildlife members Great Lakes Energy Cooperative and Trees, Inc., recently helped 80 students at Thomas Read Elementary School in Shelby, Mich., celebrate Arbor Day by planting maple trees on school property. Click image for print quality version |
Energy for Wildlife is a membership-based certification program created for all energy companies by the National Wild Turkey Federation. The program's primary goal is to enhance wildlife habitat on company-managed, -owned or -influenced lands. These lands include power line and gas rights of way, plant sites, forestlands and other properties.
Great Lakes Energy's vegetation management team donated four maple trees to Thomas Read Elementary School and helped students plant them on Arbor Day. Attendees also saw a hot dog fry on a power line as part of Great Lakes Energy's Hotline Safety Show and watched a Trees, Inc. tree-trimmer demonstrate his bucket truck.
"They really enjoyed the day and learned a lot," said third grade teacher Beth Gowell.
The students can recall planting the trees and watch them grow for many years to come as they progress toward graduation since Shelby's high school and middle school are nearby.
As a member of the Energy for Wildlife program, Great Lakes Energy develops a project each year to help support wildlife habitat and conservation.
"This Arbor Day celebration was the perfect opportunity to educate our kids about the need for trees and the need to plant trees in the right place around power lines," explained Tim Kennedy, Great Lakes Energy's assistant supervisor of vegetation management for the South.
Added Loran Brinkmeier, Energy for Wildlife biologist, "Today's event is important because we need future conservationists. If we're not getting kids outside and introducing them to conservation, we won't have stewards of our wildlife and natural resources for the next generation."
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What do Thomas Read Elementary School third-graders remember most about the day Great Lakes Energy arrived at their school to help them celebrate Arbor Day? "It was great to plant the trees. We got to put all the stuff around the trees." — Kristian "I liked when they electrified the hot dog." — Ernan "I liked when the man went up to the sky. I bet he was sort of scared. I would be if I went up to the sky." — Martha |
The young arborists placed the new trees in prepared holes, added topsoil, water and fertilizer, then topped them off with mulch. Classes are taking turns watering the trees twice a week, and then summer school students will take over those chores.
Great Lakes Energy Cooperative, Inc., headquartered in Boyne City, is a non-profit rural electric cooperative. It is the third-largest electric utility in the state of Michigan, and the eighth largest member-owned electric cooperative in the United States, providing power to more than 125,000 members.
Great Lakes Energy Cooperative practices integrated vegetation management on their rights of way that creates excellent high quality wildlife habitat. Through the program, Great Lakes Energy helps landowners enhance wildlife habitat on their rights of way and partners on wildlife habitat projects on state and federal properties. Youth education and getting the community involved with habitat restoration projects has been and continues to be a top priority of the cooperative.
An NWTF Energy for Wildlife Program corporate partner since 1997, Trees, Inc., is one of the largest tree service companies in the nation. Experienced associates have been meeting the comprehensive vegetation management needs of the utility and municipal tree care industry throughout the United States since 1953.
The NWTF's Energy for Wildlife program staff works directly with energy companies to integrate wildlife management activities into their land management programs. When participating companies have implemented the wildlife component of their management plans, they will become a certified member of the program.
