Nicodemus Wilderness Project -- Global Registry of Apprentice Ecologists

Growing up in Washington State was the best thing for a young explorer and nature enthusiast like myself, daily science classes in the protected forest yards away from my elementary school was the start of my love for the environment and the plants and animals in it. Even now, in the humid, hot air of Texas my love for living things has only grown. Now a high school senior, collage is looming ahead of me, Iâ€™m starting to see things about the world around me that I never paid attention to before, like global warming; its effect on century old glaciers, quickly melting resulting in rising ocean and ocean temperature levels and thus resulting in the death of many species of coral and the wildlife relaying on that coral. Growing up and getting ready to become an adult and start a life in this world has really inspired me to try to save it. saying you like animals, saying how cute they are wont save them, and saying youâ€™ve planted a tree but have never watered it isnâ€™t helping, Saving something isnâ€™t a one step process it takes everyone taking many small steps and going all the way through with it. Iâ€™m at a point where Iâ€™m taking the next step forward in choosing a career that will be beneficial to many communities. I decided to share my project with Apprentice Ecologist because this is something that Iâ€™ve been doing for seven years and I wanted to inspire the audience of this essay that small simple projects can have a large significance in our world.
My project took place in a small, hot and humid town just outside Houston Texas, The Area is woody and alive but over running with China Berry Trees, originally from Asia these trees produce poisonous hard fruits that are inedible, they are not the ideal choice for bird nesting and take up space that a more beneficial not so invasive tree may have grown, In this area there are now more China Berry trees than any other type of tree causing birds and other animals to seek shelter elsewhere. Wanting to bring more wild life back into our area we decided to set aside a weekend to make over 30 cuttings, root and plant Silver Maples. These trees offer just what this community needed, unlike the invasive China Berry Tree the Silver Maples fruit is eaten by finches, squirrelâ€™s, chipmunks and other small mammals. Deer and Cotton tailed Rabbits eat the leaves and stems and squirrels eat the flower buds. Many birds roost in this tree and believe it or not sometimes different species roost together. Silver Maples have very soft wood causing cavities in the trunk where animals can live, this tree makes up where the China Berry Tree lacks; Food, and shelter for many species of animals. But the Silver Maple Tree was not are only goal, our small group of four volunteered at a local plant sale and informed, promoted and sold the Mexican Butterfly Weed, this is a support plant for the endangered Monarch Butterflies. It was truly exciting knowing that with each sale we were helping an endangered species and encouraging it to come to our community to! This project most defiantly inspired me to get out and inform people about the simple things they can do to improve the environment around them.