by Yvonne Homeyer

The Conservation Committee has several projects going on, and we are very excited about them. Any member who wishes to join is welcome.

On February 12 several of us met with Mike Schroer and Mike Arduser at Busch Wildlife.  The meeting was very upbeat and productive.  We covered many topics including the Shorebird Area, Comfort Pines, identifying sensitive areas for birds and butterflies, Marais Temps Clair, Lost Valley Trail, and more.  As a result of that meeting, we are actively working with Busch Wildlife staff on two projects.  One is the planting of milo and millet seed at a food plot near Lake 24 to encourage wintering sparrows, hopefully even Harris' Sparrow, which used to be seen in this area several years ago.  The other is planting of pine tree saplings in the Comfort Pines area, where WGNSS has a memorial to Jim Comfort.  Busch staff will also do what it can to manage the Shorebird Area to provide mudflats, which hopefully will attract migrant shorebirds this spring.  So birders, stop on by and let us know what you see there.  We want to provide feedback to Busch officials.  Sue Gustafson is the coordinator of the food plot project and Dennis Bozzay is coodinator of the Comfort Pines project.

Meanwhile, the project headed up by Dianne Benjamin concerning the land known as Little Creve Coeur Lake is moving along.  This project focuses on the mitigation land acquired by the St. Louis County Parks Dept. to make up for land lost to the Page Avenue Freeway.  This wetlands is some of the best natural wetlands in the area and we want to have input in keeping it natural.  On March 2, several Committee members (two of whom overlap with St. Louis Audubon) met with County Parks Dept. officials to discuss ways that WGNSS can be involved.  Our offer was well received and the meeting was very productive.  We agreed to survey the LCCL area for birds, butterflies, and wildflowers, and report our findings to the County Parks people.  Jim Malone will be collecting the data.  In addition, there seem to be opportunities for more projects with the County Parks Dept.  We will keep you updated.

During the summer, we are going to identify and map areas of Busch where breeding birds of declining species and certain butterfly species are located.  Some of our target bird species are:  Bell's Vireo (not found in Busch last year), Dickcissel, Blue Grosbeak, Wood Thrush, Black-billed Cuckoo, Red-headed Woodpecker, Cerulean, Worm-eating and Black & White Warblers, Redstarts, Red-eyed and Yellow-throated Vireo, American Bittern, Least Bittern, and Common Moorhen.  We will communicate that information to Busch officials.  So birders and butterfly enthusiasts, write down those sightings and turn them in to Yvonne Homeyer.

We also decided to start a native wildflower plot in a yet-to-be-chosen location, possible a St. Louis County park.  Our goal is to provide flowers that attract butterflies.  Kraig Paradise will coordinate this project.  This was another agenda item in the meeting with the County Parks Dept., and they were interested in our idea.

We would like to get WGNSS members on Advisory Borads of various state and local agencies that are involved with conservation/ecology/development issues.  If you have any information about what Boards would fit this description, or if you have any contacts, please let Yvonne Homeyer know.  Also, those who are interested in serving on a board should send a brief resume to Yvonne Homeyer.

As you can see, we will be doing projects that members can participate in, even if they don't want to come to meetings.  We will keep you posted through the newsletter about our projects as they develop.