In June 2016, the Sustainable Poolesville Green Team partnered with the National Wildlife Federation to register with NWF’s Community Wildlife Habitat certification program.  Poolesville became a Certified Sustainable Community in 2014 under the Sustainable Maryland program, and it is anticipated the Community Wildlife Habitat Certification project will be included as part of the Sustainable re-certification in 2018.

Since 1973, the National Wildlife Federation has provided millions of people with the basic guidelines for making their landscapes more hospitable for wildlife.  To date, through the Certified Wildlife Habitat™ program, NWF has certified more than 190,000 sites including yards, schools, businesses, community gardens, parks, and places of worship.  Each of these sites provides the four basic elements that all wildlife need to thrive:  food, water, cover and places to raise young.  A Community Wildlife Habitat project brings people together for a common purpose – to create a community where people, flora and fauna can flourish.  Poolesville’s action plan includes a long-term commitment to citizen education about providing habitat for wildlife and employing sustainable gardening practices.  These practices include reducing or eliminating the use of chemical pesticides and fertilizers, conserving water, planting native plants, removing invasive plants and composting.

Poolesville’s project goal is to encourage as many homes, places of worship, businesses, farms and other locations as possible in the 20837 zip code area to become NWF-certified habitats, and each individual certification provides us with credit toward the community habitat certification.  In addition, the project team is also currently working towards certification of the town hall property as a wildlife habitat, and will be surveying other town-owned areas for possible additional certifications. 

To get started on your own gardening for wildlife adventure, visit NWF’s Garden For Wildlife website at www.nwf.org/gardenforwildlife.  The site offers access to continually-updated information and resources for habitat projects, along with a wealth of other information on wildlife and wild places, and how to help protect these precious natural resources.  For more information on the Poolesville Community Wildlife Habitat project, contact Don Street, at poolesvillecwh@gmail.com.  And be sure to visit the project Facebook page here.