Each year over 3 million acres of natural habitat are destroyed by urban sprawl in America. That is equivalent to paving over Everglades National Park - twice.

Habitat loss decreases biodiversity - the variety of all living things in an ecosystem - and is one of the leading causes of specie extinction.

Human activity has increased the rate of extinction from one to specie every one million years to 1000 species, making the rate of extinction faster than the rate of creation.

One-third of the world's wildlife has been lost just in the last 30 years.

Half of all species alive today may become endangered or extinct within the next 100 years.

As the Earth's climates and ocean currents change from global warming, species will have to migrate to new habitats to survive - moving the same distance in the next 100 years as they did over 5,000 years in the last age. In their way are habitats fragmented by highways, malls, parking lots and suburban sprawl.

Biodiversity scientists warn that what we, and our children, do to protect the Earth's environment and live sustainable lifestyles will determine the future of all life.

You can make the difference by creating a naturescape and providing habitat for resident and migrating wildlife.

HABITAT ELEMENTS

	To attract wildlife you need to provide the primary habitat elements of food, water, and shelter.
	Survey your yard from an animal's point of view and identify what habitat elements you need to provide.
	Use guides to the native plants and animals in your area to match habitat and plant requirements with the natural conditions in your yard (sun, water, wind, soil).
	Maximize the transition, or edge, area between habitats in your yard where most wildlife interacts.

Food
The ideal wildlife management plan supplies as much food as possible through native trees and plants in order to meet the year-round needs of many species. Locally native plants support 10 to 50 times as many species as non-native plants.

	One of the best native trees for birds and wildlife is the red cedar, an evergreen, which provides fruit and shelter for over 50 species of resident and migrating birds.
	Over 30 species of birds from woodpeckers to tanagers and thrushes eat the fruit of dogwood trees.
	18 species of birds, including cedar waxwings and robins, will eat the fruit from hawthorn trees.
	Supplement natural food sources with feeders.

Water
Nothing attracts wildlife like water - especially moving water. Provide year-round sources of fresh water in a birdbath or wetland like a small pond. Wetlands help manage storm-water runoff and provide reproductive areas for small fish, frogs and dragonflies.

Shelter
Animals need shelter and safe places to raise young. Provide shelter and places to raise young for as many species as possible.

	Plant native plants and trees like evergreens and conifers
	Leave dead trees and hollow logs
	Create rock and brush shelters
	Put up nesting boxes
	Make ponds and wetlands

	Create your brush shelter in habitat transition area like between shrubs and groundcovers.
	Make sure your brush shelter receives direct sunlight at some point during the day for those animals that like to bask.
	Use branches, twigs and stone piles to create hiding places and basking places.
	Old pipes at the base of a shelter provide tunnels for rodents, reptiles, and amphibians.
	Plant native vines to sprawl over the brush shelter and attract butterflies, hummingbirds and songbirds.
	Place evergreen branches and holiday trees over the brush shelter to provide cover from winter weather.

1/3 of all food we eat is the result of pollinators, like bees and butterflies, visiting and pollinating a flower.

Pesticides kill thousands of beneficial insects, like bees, for every one they control.

Wild honeybees are almost extinct and 1/4 of all commercial beehives have been lost in the last 5 years.

You can make the difference for bees by planting native nectar plants, not using pesticides, and putting up a bee box.

Amphibian populations are in decline and several species are now extinct due to habitat loss, exposure to contaminants, introduction of non-native species, parasites and fungal diseases.

Understanding the decline of amphibian populations is critical in discerning how people's activities affect our environment.

You can make the difference by participating in the Frogwatch USA Frog and Toad Monitoring Program operated by the U. S. Geological Survey. Go to www.mp2-pwrc.usgs.gov/FrogWatch/ for more information.

Place a broken clay pot upside down in a shady moist area for an instant toad-house.

Go to http://cgee.hamline.edu/frogs for the A Thousand Friends of Frogs web site for discovery activities with frogs.

Go to www.im.nbs.gov/amphibs.html for information on the North American Amphibian Monitoring Program that surveys amphibians in support of science, education and environmental health.

WILDLIFE TIPS

	Do not feed any wild animals like bears and alligators.
	Many wild animals are killed every year because they lost their fear of humans through feeding and became a nuisance or threat.
	Feeding or handling wildlife is dangerous and illegal.
	Cover garbage cans tightly.
	Keep pets and pet food inside.

RESOURCES

Go to Backyard Birding for information on attracting birds.
Go to Bats for information on attracting bats.

Go to Wildlife First Aid for information on caring for injured wildlife.

Go to www.learner.org/jnorth for information on Journey North, a global study of wildlife migration.

Go to www.greenmap.com for information on Greenmaps, a local-to-global collaboration to chart the ecologically significant places in cities everywhere.

Visit the National Wildlife Federation at www.nwf.org to learn how to create a backyard wildlife habitat.