One of the measures offers stewardship payments to agricultural producers for work done to protect and expand habitat for the rare upland bird. The new program is known as the Wildlife Credits Program and is part of an agreement between the Wildlife Department, Oklahoma Conservation Commission and the Oklahoma Association of Conservation Districts.

The program basically pays agricultural producers to perform certain management practices and avoid others that would negatively impact the habitat of the lesser prairie chicken and would be funded by money from the Association of Conservation Districts combined with portions of donations made by OG&E to offset habitat loss caused by two of the company’s wind farm developments in northwest Oklahoma — the OU Spirit Wind Farm and the 151 MW Keenan Phase II wind farm from which OG&E is purchasing 100 percent of the energy produced.

The other measure, as part of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service’s Candidate Conservation Agreement with Assurances Program (CCAA), can provide landowners with assurances against certain liabilities and federal restrictions in the event that the lesser prairie chicken is listed as an endangered species.

The lesser prairie chicken has been a candidate for listing on the endangered species list since 1998, and since 2008 has been a category 2 species, which is the highest level of priority given to a species before being listed.

The 500 kw solar array is being built in place on top of the largest building at the Harvard owned, The Arsenal. The Arsenal was used during the two world wars to manufacture field artillery, guns and ammunition.

The new array is expected to generate over 600,000 kw hours of electricity a year, just over 7% of the electricity used by the tenants. The energy consumed is enough to power over 30 homes, and is the equivalent of removing over 40 cars from our roads.

In addition, Harvard is installing two 10 kw wind generators on the Soldiers Field Park Garage, as well as solar thermal for two residential properties and smaller wind generators on top of Holyoke Center in Harvard Square.

In just one rather large village in India, home to over a million people, the majority of the people recycle. They take it a step further that most. While many folks are really craft at creating new items from used ones, the Indians excel at it.

These home crafters gather trash from all over the city. They then transform it into new products. It’s a way of life for these Indians and a substantial portion of their income.

Overall, India recycles about 40 percent of their electronic waste. Kudos to India!

National Geographic’s Novica features some prominent Indian artists. Their creations range from wall hangings, metal works, woven and fabric items and jewelry.

http://www.novica.com/region/india/index.cfm?rid=15

ecofont

The new ecological minded font was created by http://www.spranq.eu/ and is available at ecofont.eu

Did you know that the average barn swallow or purple martin eats thousands of bugs per day? Did you realize that all birds feed their young bugs during the hatching season?

Some folks like to feed the wild birds in the winter, especially when there’s snow and ice on the ground which keeps them from their favorite wild foods. But, did you know that keeping your bird feeders full all year long, helps to keep them around, and in your yard?

Why is this important? Because every bird in your yard, every bird flittering through the trees, every bird scattering beneath the feeders, every nest full of baby bird eggs, every bird is also eating bugs too!

Birds like the barn swallow eat flying bugs, including mosquitoes. Other birds that catch flying insects are the chickadees, the wrens, catbirds, bluebirds, and even some sparrows. Even seed eating birds catch bugs for the baby birds in the nests!

I’ve tried all kinds of bird seed for the wild birds that frequent my feeders. I used to buy the cheap stuff off the bottom shelf at the big box store. Then I upgraded to the almost as cheap stuff on a higher shelf at the big box store. The problem with the lower end bags of seed is that there’s lots of milo or millet in there. The birds in my backyard eat a little of that but mostly they knock it out onto the ground, where it invariably sprouts.

I upgraded once and bought a big old fifty pound bag of corn chops (that’s chopped up corn). The cardinals and the blue jays liked it, but so did the squirrels!

I’ve even bought a fifty pound bag of chicken scratch for the wild birds. Granted they aren’t chickens, but chickens are birds, so they should like it, right? Boy was I wrong. Again, the scratch was full of milo and millet which was generally wasted.

Last year, I splurged. While visiting a local farm supply store I spotted a huge fifty pound bag of sunflower seed, and bargain priced at that! It was cheaper than any seed mix I’d been buying, so my wild feathered friends were in for a treat! Sunflower seed!

The cardinals flocked to the feeders, the blue jays too. The wrens and finches even partake of the black oily seeds. They loose a few, and the ground eating birds come in and finish those off. I’ve seen morning doves alongside quail eating the sunflower seeds on the ground under the feeders.

I finally used up that big old bag of sunflower seed and had to go searching for another. Of course, prices on many agricultural items have skyrocketed and sunflower seeds were no exception. My birds are worth it though. So, I pulled into the local farm supply store and hubby threw that big old bag over his shoulder and carried it up to the checkout stand for me. The price was about double from last year, but that’s ok. My fine feathered friends bring joy to my life and are therefore worth the price of a big old bag of birdseed.