Imagine the quiet whoosh of osprey wings over the waters of Lake Norman. The splash of turtles entering its protective depths. The mother wood duck urging her offspring further into a sheltered cove. The smile of the child catching their first fish.

 Imagine it all gone eerily cold, silent and dead.

 Avoiding that last scenario is the mission of Lake Norman Wildlife Conservationists, a grassroots chapter of the North Carolina Wildlife Federation (NCWF), founded in 2007, to “protect and enhance the natural resources and wildlife habitats of the greater Lake Norman area for all to enjoy.”

The NCWF was recently named the National Wildlife Federation’s State Wildlife Affiliate of the Year, in part for its unique and highly successful grassroots chapter concept. Basically, the purpose of these chapters, initiated by Tim Gestwicki, NCWF executive director, is to apply the slogan “Think Globally, Act Locally.”

The Lake Norman group is one of ten chapters across the state that give ordinary people a chance to influence public action and perception of wildlife issues in their own region.

LNWC members work together to help neighbors and friends get out on the lake to create healthy wildlife habitats—places to live, grow, feed and raise youngsters. And through a series of free nature programs held at the Mooresville Public Library, they also spread the word on how conservation impacts North Carolina and the future of our own children.

Conservation projects are the heart and soul of this organization, and all are undertaken with the advice and consent of Duke Energy, which manages Lake Norman. These include:

• Artificial fish attractors, porcupine-shaped objects placed on deeper areas of the lake floor to provide safe feeding and breeding areas for fish. This project is headed by Mark Lancaster, LNWC president and owner of Lancaster Custom Dock & Lift Systems.
• Osprey-nesting platforms “seeded” with sticks to provide osprey parents with a safer alternative than channel markers or even the roofs of pontoon boats. Lancaster and his friend, builder Steve Turley, have placed dozens of platforms around Lake Norman. Numerous osprey offspring have been successfully raised on them in the past four years.
• Nest boxes for cavity-nesting birds such as prothonotary warblers, wood ducks, bluebirds, barred owls and nuthatches have been built and installed by various LNWC volunteers. Normally these birds rely on mature trees for their young, but the building boom caused large trees to be felled by the thousands. Members also have supervised Boy Scouts and Girl Scouts in building nest boxes with their parents.
• Turtle-basking platforms built by volunteers and placed against island shorelines to provide areas for turtles and other reptiles to safely relax and sun themselves. These work as artificial “woody debris,” such as fallen trees, to which reptiles are naturally attracted. This project is headed by member Bill Mugg, who has a special fondness for “herp” species.
• Reeds Creek Wetland, a newly mitigated and state-protected wetland area between Interstate 77 and NC Hwy. 21 in Mooresville, has been adopted as part of a Protected Wildlife Corridor. Member Eric Peterson personally cleared the area of old tires and other trash dumped in this area, and has helped place nesting boxes and turtle-basking platforms here. With permission, he even placed a sign that warns operators of personal watercraft to slow down and avoid spooking the many majestic water birds that nest here each spring.
• Shoreline erosion protection through the planting of native black willow and water willow trees was a project of Duke Energy conducted with the help of LNWC volunteers. This project goes hand-in-hand with the state federation’s Island Habitat Program, which LNWC conducts for the federation on Lake Norman. Under this program, run by member Jill Feldmeyer, people adopt an island to monitor for signs of vandalism or disturbance to its wildlife inhabitants. They may place a nesting box or other improvement for wild occupants, as well.

Right now, volunteers are being sought for the Coverboard Project, new for 2010 and the first research of its kind ever conducted in this area. It involves the placement of coverboards—basically sheets of plywood—on the ground of several Lake Norman islands, which are monitored on a regular basis for the presence of reptiles and amphibians.

Results will be studied and posted by Davidson College’s own herpetology expert, Professor Michael Dorcas. More information about volunteering for this project can be found by visiting www.lakenormanwildlife.org.

 It’s these hands-on educational opportunities—the ones that get people up-close and personal with nature—that create a lifelong interest in preserving our wild friends for all time. By helping them survive, our children will never have to endure the deadly silence of a lifeless Lake Norman.

Contact: Julie Higgie, Lake Norman Wildlife Conservationists  BOD Officer 704-877-4788 (cell) or 704-799-1471 (home)