To look after Earth, start in your backyard

Make your backyard a better home for wildlife this year. That's one of the things we all can do for the environment, says Earnie McLaney. Planting trees is another.
But that's not enough, says McLaney, president of Charlotte Reconnecting Ourselves With Nature, or CROWN. We also need to make sure to look after the other natural resources that are special to us, including farms, waterways and parks.
McLaney sent out an email blast last week asking people to get involved in protecting the places we would want our grandchildren to enjoy one day.
His letter is a response to two bills on EPA policy that are moving through Congress.
McLaney’s views on those proposals – H.R.1422 and H.R.4012 – are not the subject here. He does want to remind us that we need a healthy ecosystem for our survival, just like the creatures outside. That means we need to pay attention as changes take place in the agencies we’ve put in charge of protecting it.
So devote some time to making your backyard more welcoming to wildlife. But save some time for working with your neighbors through environmental groups in our area.
He suggests the N.C. Conservation Network, N.C. Audubon, Catawba Riverkeeper and Catawba Land Conservancy. CROWN, the organization McLaney leads, is a local chapter for the N.C. Wildlife Federation.
Karen’s blog: http://homelifeclt.blogspot.com; on Twitter @sullivan_kms.