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Dear Dr. Conservation I have an ongoing dispute with my brother-in-law about how I manage my yard (or as he says, how I don't manage my yard ). I thought that you could help settle it or at least shed some light on the issue. I live in a pretty typical suburban house in a development dating from the 1950s. The houses and lots are all about the same size. Unlike most of my neighbors, I do not use pesticides or herbicides of any kind in the yard; no rose spray, no lawn treatments, in fact, I do not even use fertilizer on my lawn. I also mow infrequently, maintain dense shrub patches and borders, and plant lots of food plants for birds and butterflies. Yes, it's a bit out of the ordinary but I maintain that I am helping to support wildlife. My brother-in-law says that I'm wasting my time because I am alone in my practices among my neighbors and my yard is too insignificant to supply habitat for anything. I do sometimes have my doubts but then I watch the birds at my feeder and feel that what I'm doing is worthwhile. Am I wasting my time? Bob from Butler Dear Bob: You definitely are not wasting your time. Keep up the good work. Your effort to make your lawn attractive to birds, insects and other living things reaches beyond the wildlife that uses it. You are setting an important example for your neighbors and community. By choosing not to use lawn and garden chemicals, you are helping to reduce contamination of surface and ground water, and you're creating a hospitable place for organisms that can live within small patches of habitat. If the tables were turned and most people adopted your lawn care approach, the combined results on the community's and the region's environment could be impressive. Still, your brother-in-law has a point when he says that small, isolated patches of habitat have limited value in the big picture of ecosystem conservation. Animals must have room to move, travel, migrate, find mates, and disperse. Diverse as it is, your property will not support the same diversity of species as an interior forest habitat, and you're not likely to see a black bear wondering through any time soon. But that is no reason not to begin improving the environment where you can, right at home. And as more people begin to manage their property in alternative ways, more niches will become available for a broader range of wildlife to enrich the lives of everyone in the neighborhood. Don't feel alone, Bob. Awareness is spreading and others are managing their yards in creative ways. Programs such as those offered through the Wildlife Habitat Council ( www.wildlifehc.org/managementtools/backyard.cfm ) encourage the use of yards as habitat for wildlife. Consider yourself a leader and carry on. Sincerely,
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