Business
The Sweet Sounds of Conservation
NORTHAMPTON, MA / ACCESSWIRE / May 16, 2023 / At Wintergreen Lake, a bevy of trumpeter swans ...
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[{"type":"text","content":"The Sweet Sounds of ConservationNORTHAMPTON, MA / ACCESSWIRE / May 16, 2023 / At Wintergreen Lake, a bevy of trumpeter swans performs in concert, their unmistakeable call echoing across the water. Nesting pairs raise their young and juveniles practise fishing as tens of thousands of visitors watch every year, charmed by the majestic white waterfowl with jet-black bills.Just 30 years ago, this lake in southwest Michigan was devoid of trumpeter swans, as were nearly all waterways from Wisconsin to Mississippi along the Mississippi Flyway bird migration route. In the 1980s and '90s, overhunting and deaths by blood poisoning from toxins decimated the population of North America's largest native bird species.But thanks to conservation efforts led by Augusta's W.K. Kellogg Bird Sanctuary, the trumpeter swan population has been restored.The hundreds of swans that stop over in Wintergreen Lake today are part of the lineage of the restored population, explains Sarah Carroll, a development coordinator with the 180-acre Kellogg Bird Sanctuary, which includes Wintergreen Lake.Now, multiple generations of visitors, including thousands of schoolchildren, flock to the Sanctuary to visit the trumpeter swans, as well as Canada geese, eastern screech owls, red-tailed hawks, bluebirds and hummingbirds.\"The best stories are meeting people who came as kids, then brought their own children, and now are coming back with their grandchildren,\" says Carroll.The Sanctuary was established in 1927 by W.K. Kellogg of Kellogg's cereal fame. He donated the property a year later to Michigan State University, whose main campus is in East Lansing, an hour northeast of the Sanctuary. In addition to being a green space preserving species and habitat, the Sanctuary serves as a research lab for the university's scholars and students.In the 1960s, the university built a welcome center with an auditorium to enhance visitors' educational experience. Schoolchildren in Grades 1 to 12 take part in programs that expand on the state's science curricula relating to ecology, birds and habitats. The public attends talks and workshops, such as bird identification courses.After more than a half century of welcoming learners, the center needs an upgrade to expand its educational capacity, update technology, and comply with the American Disability Act. The upgrade will also see t...