[PCA] TV: David Mizejewski on the Today Show

[MALawler at aol.com]

Great job on the show, David.  Especially getting so much information into 
such a little bit of time!

May I add my 2-cents worth on the value of backyard habitats on a very 
personal level.  My brother works in the corporate world in northern Illinois and 
had been in the Army. His  contacts with the natural world were occasional 
fishing and hunting trips in northern Wisconsin.  His idea of gardening was to 
conquer the lawn and weeds.  

When he found out that I was changing what was growing in my backyard to 
benefit birds, pollinators, chipmunks and other critters and that my backyard was 
"certified," by NWF, he became interested in trying new things and in feeding 
birds with birdseed. He also became interested in native plants.  Over the 
past four years, he has created a woodland garden under trees and several 
"prairie" beds of native flowers.  He started taking walks to see wildflowers in the 
forest preserves near him, and taking his grandson.  He's now very 
knowledgeable about species native to Illlinois.  And he volunteers to help remove 
buckthorn and other invasives. His trips to northern Wisconsin are not to hunt, but 
to see what seasonal wildflowers are in bloom. He writes his Senators and 
Representative about environmental legislation; and most importantly, his voting 
decisions are now primarily based on the environmental record of candidates. 
It's a complete change.

I agree that saving habitat and protecting biodiversity are the most 
important things we can do and where we should put most of our efforts. But to do so, 
we have to help people understand why they are important so that they can make 
informed choices.  And Americans (according to The American Nursery and 
Landscape Association) spend more than $17 billion a year on gardening.  It would 
be great if the Land and Water Conservation Fund appropriations were anywhere 
close to that!

Mary Ann Lawler
Virginia Native Plant Society
(and retired U.S. Dept. of the Interior)
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