Stevens Point continues prairie restoration thanks to ATC
Stevens Point, Wis., continued restoring a prairie within Koziczkowski Park in 2020 thanks to a $2,500 grant from American Transmission Co.’s Pollinator Habitat program.
The city, along with its partners from the Aldo Leopold Audubon Society and the Bill Cook Chapter of the Izaak Walton League, seeded the prairie this summer and again this fall.
This is the second consecutive year the city has received a grant from ATC for the Koziczkowski Park prairie, which will create habitat for bees, butterflies and other pollinators. Last year the city and its partnership prepared the area, including removing invasive garlic mustard plants.
One of Stevens Point’s premiere bird watching locations, Kozcizkowski Park is adjacent to the 5.5-acre Godfrey and Maybelle Erickson Natural Area, an important “rest area” for many migratory birds like the scarlet tanager and Baltimore oriole, which is managed by the Aldo Leopold Audubon Society. The park’s half mile walking trail is part of the area’s 27-mile Green Circle nature trail.
ATC’s Pollinator Habitat Program promotes planting low-growing vegetation within a transmission line right-of-way to beautify communities in a way that doesn’t compromise the safety and reliability of the electric transmission system. The Program provides financial support to eligible cities, villages, towns, counties and tribes in ATC’s service area, as well as entities that allow public access to ATC rights-of-way (e.g. nature preserves, non-profits or public land managers).
Applications for the Pollinator Habitat Program are accepted July 1 through Sept. 30 each year, and recipients will be selected by the end of the calendar year. Awards range from $100 to $5,000. Since 2013, ATC has awarded approximately 240 communities and organizations with funds totaling more than $425,000. Additional information and program applications can be found at atc-GrowSmart.com.
