Boys Scouts, 4-H join habitat conservation effort

The Stranger Creek Limb Hanger’s Chapter of the National Wild Turkey Federation (NWTF) will be planting 200 trees at Wyandotte County Lake on May 3, with the help of the Boy Scouts of America and Wyandotte County 4-H.

Each year, NWTF provides oak trees to enhance habitat on areas that support wildlife. Operation Heartland aims to restore bottomland hardwoods and riparian corridors in the Mississippi, Missouri, and Ohio River valleys. Chapters in Iowa, Missouri, Illinois, Indiana, Ohio, Kentucky, Kansas, Nebraska, and Oklahoma have enhanced more than 486,000 acres by planting oak and green ash seedlings.

The Wyandotte County Parks Department is returning some of the area around the lake into no-mow zones and restoring these zones with plant life that will support native wildlife. Parks staff have strategically selected areas with minimal recreational value, removed them from their routine mowing route, and converted them to native prairie, wildflower meadows, and other wildlife-friendly habitats.

In conjunction with this planting, Loma Vista Nursery, in Ottawa, has donated additional plants to provide habitat to birds and butterflies. Loma Vista specializes in high-quality, cold-hardy plants.

This conservation event will begin at the lake's ranger headquarters at 8 a.m. For information, phone Robin Hicks at 913-441-2195 or 913-915-9438.

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