NEW ORLEANS, La (June 8, 2005) – The Wildlife Habitat Council (WHC) and U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Region 6 presented on Wednesday, May 18, a special certificate of recognition to Bridgestone Firestone North American Tire, LLC (BFNT). This acknowledgement distinguishes the Oklahoma City Plant for restoring natural areas for both wildlife and the community, and demonstrating the value of incorporating ecological enhancements into restoration design. The honor was presented during WHC’s 2005 Restoring Greenspace conference in New Orleans, La.

“The EPA is pleased to jointly recognize with Wildlife Habitat Council, the efforts of these organizations that exemplify ecological reuse of formerly contaminated properties. We look forward to partnering with the Wildlife Habitat Council on future projects to promote habitat creation and restoration,” said Bill L. Luthans, deputy director, Multi-Media Planning and Permitting Division, U.S. EPA. He and Bill Howard, WHC president, presented the honor to Phil McCowan, environmental manager, BFNT Oklahoma City Plant, and Tim Bent, director, Environmental Affairs, Bridgestone Americas Holding, Inc.

“It’s great to have EPA’s support for creative and sustainable solutions for cleanup sites. This commitment to land stewardship values at all levels is a win-win situation for communities, companies and the environment,” said Bent. “Working with the Wildlife Habitat Council and our partners has helped the Bridgestone Americas family of companies achieve the voluntary objectives that have been recognized by EPA.”

“We approached the Oklahoma DEQ and EPA with the idea to make a new and better use of this property. We asked them to think outside the box with us to make a great habitat possible. They became partners with us in this project,” said McCowan. “Now others are finding this to be a useful method to return this type property to a natural habitat.”

The Oklahoma City Plant, located in southwest Oklahoma City, Okla., covers 395 acres, of which 100 acres are reserved for wildlife habitat enhancements. The plant property itself is composed primarily of forestland and grassland habitat. A closed RCRA Land Treatment Unit also existed on the property. The goal of the facility wildlife team, and the wildlife management plan, is to continually improve the value to the community and of the natural areas on plant property. The plant worked closely with the Wildlife Habitat Council to develop the wildlife area management plan that identified a variety of enhancement goals. In 2003, Bridgestone Firestone demonstrated its commitment to environmental stewardship and increasing native biodiversity by achieving habitat certification at the Oklahoma City Plant.

During the first two years of the program, the focus lay in satisfying requirements for the remaining Post-Closure Permit that governed the use of the land treatment area. This involved gaining final closure for the site along with regulatory support for the new concept for turning such sites into wildlife habitat areas.

Team members initially removed red cedars and Bermuda grass in the land treatment areas to make way for more diverse wildlife habitat. This work was accomplished immediately after final regulatory closure of the site. The installation of a 57-foot bridge allows access to the habitat area. The land treatment area was replanted with natural grasses and progressively reforested with native trees, including sand plum, Shumard oak and lacebarks elm. The wildlife team also planted an additional 25 acres with natural food crops such as cowpeas, sunflowers, red clover and other wildlife feed stocks. The team is also enhancing the bird sanctuary by building bird boxes and planting native wildflowers, shrubs and trees. A 3-acre man-made pond with an island provides habitat for nesting birds. The lack of rainfall in the area during the summer months led the team to drill a water well providing an additional on-site water source for local wildlife. The team also installed an underground pipeline to bring clean rainwater runoff from existing stormwater ponds to the wildlife pond.

Long-term future goals include habitat enhancement for bluebirds and screech owls, pollinator gardens and meadows, and enhanced diversity of vegetative species around the man-made pond. The team is now developing a Corporate Lands for Learning partnership with a local middle school to pursue these goals. Groups of children visit the site to learn about and develop nature projects for further enhancement. A local Boy Scout Troop also uses the area for science and nature projects, as well as for camping. The wildlife team is also designing a Web page to provide information about the habitat, projects, volunteers, partners, seasonal species inventories and wildlife stewardship.

WHC works with its members and partners to meet a challenge issued by the U.S. EPA for America’s corporations—identifying opportunities where ecological reuse is applicable in land restoration and cleanup programs, including the incorporation of natural and open space with wildlife habitat as part of remediation designs. Moving to the regional level, WHC is promoting on-the-ground measures and developing demonstration sites to increase the use of ecological enhancements in restoration efforts. www.wildlifehc.org/events/restoringgreenspace.cfm