Going Native

This video, by North Carolina State University and their “Going Native” website is for home owners, land owners, and businesses, encouraging the use of native plants in the landscape. The website offers great details on how to attract native wildlife to your property by simply introducing specific, native plants in the landscape that the local wildlife are used to. Too often people and developers bring in non-native plants into the landscape. Local wildlife may not be familiar with or care for these new plants and therefore may move out of the area, looking for plants they have been dependant on for thousands of years. This video and the “Going Native” website helps residents of North Carolina make smart choices regarding the management and maintenance of their land.

About North Carolina Wild Life Federation: The North Carolina Wildlife Federation is a state chapter of the larger National Wildlife Federation. Most of the states that make up theUnited States of America, have a local, state chapter of the National Wildlife Federation and each is unique in supporting the natural ecosystems and diversity of their specific region of our country.  The North Carolina Wildlife Federation is one ofNorth Carolina’s most effective organizations dedicated to the conservation of wildlife and wildlife habitats. With more than 60 years of experience, NCWF brings together the concerns of every North Carolinian who loves wildlife and wild places and the many ways to enjoy them. Our work is science-based. We create consensus by engaging government, industry and the public in efforts to protectNorth Carolina’s wildlife resources.

About Ernie McLaney: Ernie McLaney, a Charlotte, North Carolina (USA) native. He serves on the following community organizations:

• Stewardship Advisory Committee for Mecklenburg County Parks and Recreation; to know more click here.

• He is a board member with Sustain Charlotte; to know more click here.

• Serves on the board for Journey Toward Sustainability; to know more click here.

• Serves on the Leadership Team as vice president for HAWK (Habitat and Wildlife Keepers), a subchapter of the North Carolina Wildlife Federation. He is also an active Certified Habitat Steward with the National Wildlife Federation. To know more click here.

• Chairs the Educational Committee for “Charlotte; Clean and Green”

• Planning Committee for the 2012 North Carolina Science Festival through Charlotte’s Discovery Place.

• Ernie helped to create CREN (Charlotte Regional Environmental Network), linking numerous environmental related organizations together in order to share information through networking, strengthen the region’s focus and advocacy related to sustainability, preserving our natural resources, and to educate local and state decision makers.

Ernie has a life-long connection to the natural world from spending his youth in neighborhood woods, and summers on Lake Wylie, and has a strong passion for connecting today’s youth to the wonders of nature; “they are the future stewards of this planet”. He is a Habitat Steward, certified by the National Wildlife Federation. His children, Melissa and Christopher understand and support the human connection with nature. Ernie enjoys the great outdoors through hiking, kayaking, birding, visiting area nature preserves, working in and talking about his backyard wildlife habitat, and traveling with his wife, Debbie.

Fact check: Media relations don’t develop overnight, they have to be nurtured over a long period. Don’t over-rule a journalist’s opinion by pushing yours. Allow the journalist to put together a story the way he wants to and not the way you like it. Here, a big no-no is the request to the journalist to share the final draft of the story before publishing it. It will clearly offend the journalist even if he/she is your ‘best friend’ because it means you don’t trust him/her. It might result in a bad story or a no story.

Author: Ernie McLaney

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