Boy Scout Projects

Numerous boy scout troops have volunteered their time to assist with stewardship efforts.  We are particularly grateful to the Boy Scouts who completed their Eagle Scout Service Projects at the Center.  Below, we would like to showcase the range of projects that have been completed in the Environmental Study Area. 

When Andrew Bleau learned that bird strikes on windows were common at the Environmental Interpretive Center, he decided to take action. For his Eagle Scout Service Project (Troop #1111), Andrew researched, designed, built and installed a bird anti-collision system using Acopian BirdSavers outside the wildlife observation room and exhibition space at the Center.

These hanging ropes spaced at regular intervals on the exterior of our windows break up the reflection that birds see and help prevent birds from flying into our windows by accident. Bird collisions on windows at the Center have been reduced dramatically since the installation. 

The council ring benches at the EIC offer a unique opportunity for large groups to sit down and enjoy nearby gardens and wildlife.

Thanks to Dearborn Boy Scout Daniel Bunge for choosing this to complete as his Eagle Service Project, along with his family, and a crew of volunteers from BSA Troop 1147, who designed and constructed the council rings. This project was made possible with financial assistance from a Ford Motor Company MODEL “Better World” mini-grant.

The council rings often provide a staging area for the EIC’s educational school programs, and it is common to see students sitting on the benches enjoying the sites and sounds of the rain garden.

Based on EIC staff observations, the white-tailed deer population had dramatically increased in the Environmental Study Area. To better understand the impacts of the deer herd and other wildlife on the health of the forest, it was decided to install wildlife exclosures.

These fenced-in areas keep grazing animals out, allowing for comparisons of the impacts of wildlife browsing on the plant community outside the exclosures to the inaccessible areas within. Local Boy Scout Clayton Ford volunteered to build and install three wildlife exclosures for his Eagle Service Project.

Clayton researched and submitted plans for the exclosures, and raised substantial funds needed for the materials. Clayton and his crew installed the exclosures in a section of the forest between the Orchard Trail and Fairlane Drive.

As any of the gardeners who tend to plots in the Center’s Community Organic Garden (COG) will attest, the Garden has experienced an ever increasing level of foraging by white-tailed deer. After a particularly damaging summer in 2011, it was determined that a taller wildlife fence needed to be installed around the Children's Garden. The Children's Garden in the COG is home to the Center’s weekly gardening programs for children ages 4-10 during the months of May-August.

Local Boy Scout, David Totten, volunteered to install a new deer fence around the Children's Garden. David wanted to contribute to the ongoing community activities sponsored by the Environmental Interpretive Center for his Eagle Service Project (Troop #1151). 

David  raised the necessary funds for the fence through returnable bottles that he collected. More than 20 recruits assisted David in installing a new 7-foot tall fence around the Children’s Garden. With David’s help, now our young gardeners can look forward to bigger harvests without worrying about the deer.