DNR’s Wild Yard program lets private landowners get in on wildlife conservation

A sign in Tomi Bergstrom’s yard in Charleston denotes that it’s certified as a “Wild Yard” by the state Division of Natural Resources. (Tomi Bergstrom | Courtesy photo)

Tomi Bergstrom skips the lawn mower on the lower half of her lawn in Charleston, West Virginia, and it isn’t because she hates yard work.

She’s growing native plants on the 1.6 acres with the goal of protecting the state’s native wildlife.

Bergstrom’s yard is one of the 400 that have been certified by the West Virginia Division of Natural Resource’s as a Wild Yard over the program’s 25-year history. The program aims to help the state’s wildlife by encouraging property owners to grow native plants and incorporate animal habitats.

“I’ve been doing what the program recommends for years,” said Bergstrom. “When I heard of the program, I was like, ‘Oh, this is a way for me to justify to my husband all the work that I do in our yard.’”

The state’s Wild Yards program is similar to a number of programs around the country that encourage planting native plants for wildlife, coordinator Michelle Fonda said. West Virginia’s program is free to be certified. Certified lawns get signs letting neighbors know of their participation in the program.

“You can get started pretty easily by planting a few native wildflowers like milkweed, goldenrod, an oak tree,” said Fonda, a wildlife biologist. “[Or] putting out a bird bath, putting out a bluebird box or a bee hotel.”

Fonda said growing the state’s native plants helps wildlife, from bees and butterflies to songbirds, frogs and salamanders.

“The monarch butterfly needs milkweed in order to feed its caterpillars,” she said. “[They] only feed on species of milkweed. And if we want to keep our state butterfly around into the future, we need milkweed on the landscape.”

Blue birds were experiencing declines in population, but people putting out nest boxes for them to raise their young has helped them bounce back, Fonda said.

Benefits to lawn owners

Growing native plants can also be less work for property owners, requiring less maintenance, fertilizer and water than typical lawns, Fonda said.

“Native plants can also help reduce flooding, erosion and runoff, especially in those urban and suburban areas where this kind of impervious surface creates real problems with stormwater,” Fonda said.

Bergstrom — who studied herpetology —  said when she first moved to her property, she was disappointed not to find amphibians in her yard.

“I was like, ‘Well, OK, what do I need to do here? There should be some toads hopping around, eating some insects.” I wasn’t hearing any gray tree frogs calling. And I realized, well, there’s not a water source anywhere.”

So one of the first things Bergstrom did was put a water source on the property. Bergstrom went with a pond, but even a bird bath would have helped, she said.

Then Bergstrom started working to remove the invasive species of plants from the yard.

Her work is paying off.

This year she saw some American toads for the first time ever. And some wood frogs laid eggs in the pond.

“I have little baby wood frogs hopping around now,” Bergstrom said. “And if the amphibians are there, that’s going to bring in even more animals then as part of the food chain.”

She’s also seen southern flying squirrels, woodpeckers and blue birds, barred owls, coyotes, foxes, and at least one bear. Then there are the insects, including tiger swallowtail butterfly larvae and dragonflies that eat mosquitoes.

“We have lots of fireflies, too, an incredible amount,” Bergstrom said. “It’s really nice to just sit on the porch and watch.”

For many people, helping pollinators and wildlife can be as simple as letting an area in the lawn go unmowed. That may result in growing some nonnative plant species that should be controlled, as well, Fonda said.

“But a lot of the time you might come up with some really great wildflowers that have a lot of benefit to pollinators and other wildlife,” she said. “So for a lot of people, starting off can be as simple as doing nothing.”

Local mowing rules still apply

Not everyone likes a “wild yard.” Homeowners who opt not to mow can run afoul of local public nuisance ordinances, and some homeowner associations require lawns be kept at a certain length.

Bergstrom has found that a nice, trimmed border is the secret to keeping neighbors OK with her yard.

“For whatever reason, that seems to make people really happy,” she said. “So I think it still has that clean edge and it shows that you’re intentionally letting it grow up. Also, for me, with invasive [plants], it allows me to make sure invasives don’t vine from nearby trees or shrubs over into the grassy meadow part.”

It’s important that people check the rules where they live, Fonda said. While having an official “Wild Yard” sign will indicate to neighbors that the grass is being grown intentionally, participating in the program doesn’t exempt a homeowner from other rules, she said.

“If they really want to enforce some ordinance we can’t necessarily protect folks from that, but if you are able to talk about the benefits of native plant landscaping to wildlife, that can help convince some people,” she said.

Fonda said she encourages people to organize in their community to have some of the more restrictive ordinances change.

So far this year, 25 people have applied to be certified with the program, and Fonda is trying to get the word out to more people. Manuals for the program are available by calling the state Division of Natural Resources Wildlife Diversity Program at 304-637-0245.

“I think native plants, and native plant landscaping and the importance of plants for wildlife is continuing to grow in prominence and importance, but we definitely have a long way to go,” she said.

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