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Bluebirds to Benefit from State Grant Funds

The Newport Wilderness Society, the official friends group of Newport State Park in Ellison Bay, has been awarded a grant to refurbish and expand bluebird nest box trails at the state’s first wilderness park.

The Natural Resources Foundation’s C.D. Besadny Conservation Grant Program funded the project at 100 percent of the requested amount, $985 over three years. The funds will be used to place bluebird boxes on predator-proof poles in the park. During phase one in 2008, 22 boxes were placed along the Monarch Trail.

Weekly bluebird hikes will be held on Wednesdays at 9 am during June and July starting at the new Nature Interpretive Center located in the entrance station at lot one.

Marilyn Hansotia has been monitoring the bluebird trails at Newport for the past three years and was instrumental in updating them to better reflect the current strategies for successful bluebird nesting. Hansotia will lead the monitoring hikes, providing information about bluebirds and how to establish nesting areas.

The grant also provides funds for resource materials found at the Nature Interpretive Center.