Over the last fifty years, technology has changed the way we live. Cities are sprawling out into rural areas and we are building bigger homes in the country. As cities grow into the countryside, critical wildlife habitat is altered or removed.

Technology has also affected agriculture, leading to larger farms and ranches. All of these changes have greatly diminished habitat for wildlife. Habitat provides wildlife with all its basic needs… food, water, shelter and space to live. Some animals require a very specific habitat while others can adapt easily to changes in their surroundings.

Birds that rely on grasslands for food and nesting are particularly hard hit. But with the help and guidance of conservation districts, people are learning how to share the landscape with our backyard wildlife friends.

Thanks to local, state and federal conservation programs, wildlife habitat is being restored in the country and even in urban areas. Efforts have grown steadily as public policy makers, wildlife groups and farm interests work to together to find effective wetland protection approaches. Landowners are able to apply for cost-share to provide an area where wildlife will flourish when properly managed.