Habitat Conservation

In spring of 2006, the Environmental Center began working with the Fort Lewis College Biology Department, the Office of Community Services (OCS), and the FLC administration on how to increase the use and enjoyment of the Buzzy Berndt Demonstration Natural Area located west of the College Union Building.  

The area has been used on and off by classes since the college moved to the mesa top in 1956.   The EC, the Biology Department, and OCS all saw opportunities to showcase sustainable landscaping techniques and provide an outdoor classroom since the BBDNA is so close to the center of campus.  Through the fall of 2006 and spring of 2007, the Environmental Center staff documented the plant species in the area and compiled a field guide to native plants in the BBDNA.  The EC also worked with Don May’s surveying class to survey the groundcover of the area in order to create a more detailed vegetation map.

In the fall of 2006, the EC and SEEDS-Campus Ecology Club received a grant from the Ecological Society of America to experiment with how to restore native grasses to campus.    The EC will use the lessons from this project to work with grounds department to try to increase the ecological function and diversity of our campus landscape.  At the same time, the new central campus master plan suggested that the BBDNA should be preserved and used as a model for creating other natural areas in the center of campus.

 Have an idea or question about habitat conservation.  E-mail the Environmental Center coordinator at renner_m@fortlewis.edu