DuPont has a strategy for land conservation that includes placing surplus property into protected status through the company’s Land Legacy Program, as well as lending support to activities in local communities aimed at preserving green space. In addition, DuPont manages as much of its company property as possible for wildlife habitat.

Currently, 16 DuPont sites around the globe have been certified by the Wildlife Habitat Council, a Maryland-based non-profit organization dedicated to increasing the quality and amount of wildlife habitat on corporate, private and public lands.

“For 20 years, the Wildlife Habitat Council has led ground-breaking initiatives on more than two million acres of land for the benefit of wildlife and conservation education,” said Robert Johnson, WHC President. “WHC members embrace their role as leaders in environmental stewardship at the local, national and global level, voluntarily managing their lands to support sustainable ecosystems and sustainable societies. Congratulations to DuPont for stepping up to meet the challenges of creating a healthy and biodiverse natural world.”

Eight DuPont sites received international recognition at the Wildlife Habitat Council’s (WHC) 19th Annual Symposium, The Value of Green, in November 2007 for their contributions to wildlife habitat conservation. 

Altamira Plant - Altamira, Mexico
Chambers Works Plant - Deepwater, New Jersey
Chestnut Run Plaza/Barley Mill Plaza - Wilmington, Delaware
Experimental Station - Wilmington, Delaware
Fayetteville Works - Fayetteville, North Carolina
Hopewell Plant -  Hopewell, Virginia
Pontchartrain Works Plant -  LaPlace, Louisianna
Spruance Plant -  Spruance, Virginia

Here’s a look at their efforts to raise environmental awareness.

Altamira Plant - Altamira, Mexico

 The Altamira Plant is located along the Gulf of Mexico, about two hundred miles south of the northern border of Mexico. The site promotes a culture of environmentalism and land stewardship linking employees, their families and schools in learning and caring for local wildlife habitat. The wildlife committee at the Altamira Plant counts 30 members, which are organized into subcommittees oriented towards working on specific objectives.

In partnership with the Altamira Port Authority, the wildlife team and community members have helped to protect populations of green sea turtles and Kemp’s Ridley turtles. The two turtles are considered endangered species in the Gulf of Mexico and nest near the plant. Approximately 70 employees and their families helped to protect the turtle hatchlings as they made their way across the beach to the water. The wildlife team also held educational sessions on the turtles and distributes educational materials. Children who participated in the event received a certification for their participation.

North Lagoon, a former process lagoon on site, is managed for wildlife habitat. The wildlife committee also plants native trees and cleans trash on Miramar Beach. For the past five years, plant employees have participated in the International Coastal Clean Up in partnership with the Ocean Conservancy.

The wildlife committee provides environmental outreach and education activities with schools located near the facility. Plant employees work with students to plant trees at their schools and hold environmental workshops.

Chambers Works Plant - Deepwater, New Jersey

 Chambers Works encompasses approximately 1,400 acres in southern New Jersey, 200 of which are managed by the site’s volunteer wildlife team for habitat enhancement. The habitat area consists mainly of freshwater wetlands, old fields and woodlands bordered by the Delaware River. Woodlots on site are comprised mostly of sweetgum, red maple, black cherry, sassafras, sycamore, black walnut and oak tree species. The northern edges of the wooded areas contain a tidal basin with mud flats that attract a variety of wading birds.

A wildflower garden was planted with native plant species, such as blazing star, shasta daisy and pernnial lupine, as part of the old field management program. In the future, wildlife team members expect to incorporate more drought-tolerant plant species in the wildflower plot to encourage maximum growth in dry areas.

The wildlife management area is home to seventeen bluebird boxes, three kestrel boxes, two squirrel houses, two screech owl boxes, four butterfly houses, three bat boxes and three wood duck boxes. The boxes produce a number of fledglings, including bluebirds, tree swallows, house wrens and screech owls. A nesting pair of osprey has used the platform to nest and fledged two young. Boxes are cleaned and repaired and the Audubon Society of Salem County has conducted countywide bird counts at the site and are encouraged to continue the counts.

Within designated habitat areas, the wildlife team combats an invasive common reed infestation. A few small areas of common reed were targeted for eradication to determine the most effective removal methods. The team plans to pursue spraying as a means of reducing the common reed stands, and will continue researching other native wetland species in similar landscapes and elevation.

In support of education, students from Lafayette-Pershing Elementary School in Carneys Point, NJ, toured the wildlife management area, learned about the history of the site and particpated in hands-on activities involving identification and bird box monitoring to emphasize the need for conservation efforts.

Chestnut Run Plaza/Barley Mill Plaza – Wilmington, Delaware

The Chestnut Run Plaza/Barley Mill Plaza (CRP/BMP) occupies approximately 240 acres in New Castle County. The sites feature a small stream called Chestnut Run, which consists of two branches that feed through a small retention pond into a larger pond. The site contains approximately 79 acres of formally landscaped areas and lawns, 53 acres of grasslands and fields, and 40 acres of woodland. The field acreage includes areas that provide recreational opportunities for employees and the community, such as a playground, softball field and a picnic pavilion. The 25-member wildlife team manages approximately 128 acres of both plazas through active habitat enhancement projects.

The wildlife team planted a new garden to augment the success of the pollinator habitat enhancement program. Six volunteers worked together to plant a variety of pollinator-friendly plants, including sedum, verbena, phlox and dwarf gayfeather. The team plans to create a monarch butterfly way station to meet the species’ specific needs.

The site’s 13-member Bluebird Team manages over 50 nest boxes and replaces old and damaged nest boxes, as necessary, prior to the nesting season. Volunteers check the boxes weekly from April through August to record nesting activity on site. Old purple martin gourds were replaced with newer, more attractive varieties. The new gourds were a success and fledged 107 purple martins. This increased nesting success helped attract additional volunteers to the Purple Martin Team, which now includes seven employees that are charged with maintaining and monitoring the 32 gourds on site. The Wood Duck Box Team added two new nest boxes and installed predator guards on the boxes.

Community outreach and education continue to be a primary focus at CRP/BMP. 20 volunteers participated in the 2007 Earth Day clean up, which improved the quality and condition of over 100 acres of land. Volunteer employees continue to work with the on-site day care. Children are educated in bird species identification, nest box monitoring and maintenance, trail maintenance, and the overall importance of wildlife and habitat.

Experimental Station – Wilmington, Delaware

The 150-acre Experimental Station lies adjacent to the Brandywine River near several relatively undeveloped areas. Although much of the site is developed, the wildlife habitat enhancement committee is devoted to establishing habitat enhancement projects throughout the undeveloped areas. The committee constructed and placed nest boxes around the site, which provide nesting habitat for bluebirds as well as other cavity-nesting species. The site partnered with a local Boy Scout troop in 2006 to construct new bluebird boxes. Copperhead snakes and bats are also managed at the site, but for reasons of personal safety the snakes are not closely monitored.

The committee created two wildflower gardens that attract seventeen butterfly species and many hummingbirds to the site. The committee installed a butterfly house and water feature to provide all the habitat features required by the butterflies. Site employees also participate in management projects aimed at providing habitat for wood ducks and purple martins. The property is home to a record-sized yellow poplar tree, certified as the second largest in Delaware. The tree is estimated to originate from 1771. The site has placed a large wooden fence around the tree to protect its roots and a lightning rod at the top to ground it.

Fayetteville Works Plant, Fayetteville, North Carolina

The employees, volunteers and partners at Fayetteville Works  distinguished themselves by winning WHC’s first-ever Corporate Lands for Learning Rookie of the Year award, which recognizes one newly certified CLL program for outstanding environmental education, stewardship and voluntary efforts. The candidates for this new annual award were generated from the pool of applications for CLL certification. A panel of independent judges, which includes one representative from a conservation organization, a government agency and a corporation, reviews nominees for the awards.

Fayetteville Works occupies approximately 2,187 acres of agricultural fields, mixed pine/hardwood forest, longleaf pine and bottomland hardwood forests. The site’s wildlife habitat committee currently maintains ten active projects, with approximately 75 employees regularly participating in at least one committee. The wildlife team implements forest management projects through controlled burns, regular woodland thinning and replanting when necessary. The longleaf pine restoration project begun in 1992 maintains a density of 400 stems per acre.

In addition, the team installed and monitors nest boxes for bluebirds and wood ducks, and planted food plots of rye and clover for the benefit of wildlife. A raptor perch was installed beside one of the power transmission corridors to provide a hunting perch for resident birds of prey. After many years of involvement and success in the Wild Turkey Restoration Program, the team now works with the North Carolina Wildlife Resources Commission to capture wild turkeys for restoration in other habitats.

The on-site wild turkey management program began with eleven hens, four jakes and two mature gobblers. The wild turkey population thrives due in part to the availability of a constant food supply year-round. In winter months, oaks, beech, wax myrtle and persimmon provide adequate food for the resident population. Insects that abound in the open field habitats of the facility provide the diet for young broods. Wild turkey can also find ample mature trees for roosting scattered throughout the property. As part of community outreach, employees work with local schools often hosting site tours for local biology classes.

Habitat enhancement at Fayetteville Works benefits wildlife and also provides opportunities for environmental and conservation education. The wildlife team engages community partners in numerous learning activities through the site’s CLL program.

Local schools participate in interactive nature walks on the property to identify flora and fauna. Students gain an understanding of how early settlers used the abundant natural resources in the area to survive. Items such as an old tar kiln and a hacked longleaf pine used to collect pine tar show the importance of the tree to the area. Entering into one of the more than 500 acres of longleaf pine plantations the wildlife team planted, participants see the native trees that made the area the largest producer of pine tar worldwide in the 1850s. Since longleaf pines are planted each year, participants see the different states of growth of these majestic trees. Even the ancient history of the site is included. A 2,000-year-old petrified tree stump is located on the trail, and its origin and importance are discussed. Students gain a true “sense of place” during these walks.

The DuPont University Training Workshop, presented by the wildlife team at Fayetteville Works, hosts about 45 teachers from three counties each year. Teaching professionals earn continuing education credits and learn environmental and physical science. Additionally, the wildlife team holds annual Earth Day celebrations and tree plantings. The team partners with the North Carolina Coastal Land Trust to educate the public about longleaf pine ecosystems, and shares data on bluebird nesting with the North Carolina Bluebird Society.

Hopewell Plant - Hopewell, Virginia

The Hopewell Site is located in Chesterfield County, near the confluence of the James and the Appomattox rivers. Woodlands, agricultural fields, and industrial developments border the 149-acre site. Oaks, hollies and crabapple trees line the front entrance and parking areas on site, and native cedars, river birches and southern magnolias further complement native landscaping efforts.

The primary focus of the wildlife team is to increase environmental outreach efforts to engage employees, the surrounding community, and school-aged children in enhancement efforts while maintaining habitat areas and bird feeding and nesting programs. Wildlife team members also maintain several parcels of the site in wildlife-beneficial vegetation in order to encourage a diverse plant population on site. Plants such as blackberry, pokeweed, sunflower, wild strawberry, clover, oaks and maples provide a diversity of food and cover resources for local wildlife species.

Wildlife team members maintain several pollinator gardens on site to provide greater vegetative diversity. The first pollinator garden was created in 1999, and includes species such as butterfly bush, yucca, phlox and sweet autumn clematis. The wildlife team established another pollinator garden in 2004 adjacent to the site’s Wildlife Learning Center. This garden currently features coreopsis, violets, ageratum and butterfly bush. Team members regularly observe eastern tiger swallowtails, zebra swallowtails, American snouts, common sulfurs and American lady butterflies throughout the pollinator gardens on site.

One of the main objectives of the Hopewell wildlife team is to provide nesting boxes for native cavity-nesting species. The nest box program includes boxes for eastern bluebirds, purple martins, American kestrels, wood ducks and prothonotary warblers. In addition, team members placed nesting platforms for osprey and protect nesting habitat for killdeer. Other initiatives include maintaining six hummingbird feeders and two bird seed feeders to promote the presence of native birds on site.

In order to achieve community education and outreach goals, team members also sponsor several hands-on programs throughout the year at the Wildlife Learning Center. Team members offer three complete wildlife education programs, including an owl ecology session, a pollinator program, and a program that highlights the uniqueness of hummingbirds among pollinators.

Pontchartrain Works Plant - LaPlace, Louisianna

The Pontchartrain Site is bordered to the south by the Mississippi River. The river in the area lined with battures, unique bottomlands that undergo periodic flooding each spring. These 150 acres of seasonal wetlands contain cypress, tupelo and cottonwood trees that provide food, cover and water for snakes, frogs, American alligator, heron, egret, warblers, thrushes, vireos, ducks and nutria rat. The site contains 400 acres of grasslands, 300 acres woodlands, and a fifty-acre old pecan grove. Although Hurricane Katrina stalled the wildlife habitat committee’s program in 2005, employees revitalized the program in 2006. 

The committee repaired 12 wood duck nest boxes in early 2007 that fledged 27 ducklings. Additional nest boxes are to be installed to restore the pre-Katrina level of thirty boxes. Ten employees maintain a continuous water supply to a half-mile of ditches on the site as part of the Woodland Ditch Enhancement Project. Native plantings are used as food and cover resources by wood ducks. The two miles of the eastern bluebird nest box trail are lined with thirty nest boxes. During the 2007 nesting season, bluebirds nested in 18 boxes, and 103 young bluebirds fledged. The committee plans to expand the program to 50 boxes the future. In addition, Carolina chickadees used 5 boxes and fledged 30 young.

The wildlife habitat committee’s efforts to support the site’s bird populations resulted in an excellent resource for birders to enjoy. The site partners with the National Audubon Society and the Crescent Bird Club for the International Breeding Bird Survey and the Louisiana Breeding Bird Atlas project. The wildlife habitat committee also participates in the annual Christmas Bird Count.

Employees altered mowing practices and planted native tree seedlings within and adjacent to existing woodlots on the site. Currently, the site donates approximately 1,000 live oak, cypress and river birch seedlings annually to the St. John Parish Shade Tree Committee. These seedlings are given to local residents and businesses, enhancing wildlife habitat throughout the parish.

As part of the Historical Documentation Project, three to five employees photograph different areas of the site at established reference stations to maintain a photographic database that demonstrates the maturation of wildlife habitat enhancement projects and shows the significant increase in wildlife habitat, food, cover and water resources. In addition, a video presentation was created in 2007 to educating employees and neighbors on the progress of the wildlife habitat committee.

Spruance Plant - Spruance, Virginia

The Spruance Plant is situated on 550 acres in Chesterfield County, adjacent to the James River. The more than 20-person wildlife team manages approximately 250 acres of the site for wildlife habitat enhancement. The site is comprised of a diversity of habitat types, including 90 acres of forest habitat, 63 acres of open field areas and 50 acres of ponds and reservoirs. The remainder of the sites acreage consists of buffer lands situated between the forested and open areas.

The primary focus of the wildlife team lies in the nest box monitoring program. The program includes nest box cameras that allow team members and volunteers to witness the unique nesting activities of a variety of avian cavity-nesting species. In addition, the team adopted more scientific monitoring and measuring techniques to improve data submitted to NestWatch, a nationwide monitoring program led by the Cornell Lab of Ornithology in collaboration with the Smithsonian Migratory Bird Center. Approximately 120 nest boxes are scattered throughout the Spruance Plant grounds.

Furthermore, each year, during the week prior to Earth Day, groups from the Spruance and Hopewell manufacturing sites come together to celebrate the day with a tree planting ceremony and a butterfly bush exchange. Team members also distribute packets of flower seeds and information concerning Earth Day to approximately 900 employees each year, spreading the message about the importance of environmental stewardship.

Employees also help to create wildlife observation areas and maintain nature trails. Team members regularly update and maintain an internal wildlife team website. The website features Spruance wildlife photographs, wildlife profiles, monitoring tips, species identification tips, views from the nest box web camera, as well as links to other wildlife information.

Other DuPont Sites

Other DuPont sites with certified wildlife habitats are located in Asturias, Spain; Charleston, South Carolina; Fort Madison, Iowa; New Johnsonville, Tennessee; Contern, Luxembourg; Parlin, New Jersey; Newark, Delaware; and Parkersburg, West Virginia.