Habitat steward training at Ohop Creek and Morse Preserve

If you're interested in creating areas for wildlife or want to do your part to keep Pierce County wild, National Wildlife Federation and Tahoma Audubon Society are offering a specialized 24-hour training program to teach how to help others create and restore wildlife habitat in backyards, at schools and at other community areas.

The training, which will take place every Wednesday in February from 6 to 9 p.m. at the Adriana Hess Audubon Center in University Place, will include field trips on Feb. 4 and Feb. 18. The first will include hands-on nature mapping of Ohop Creek near Eatonville. The second will be at Morse Wildlife Preserve in Graham to learn about bird identification and conservation.

Other training topics will include rain gardens, gardening for wildlife, native plants, noxious weeds, habitat restoration, pollinators, and current science in the Puget Sound region.

The cost per participant is $30 to cover classroom materials. Scholarships are available. No one will be turned down due to lack of funds, organizers said.

Registration and information is available at http://nwfpierce.brownpapertickets.com/ and from Sarah Bruemmer at WAHabitatCoordinator@nwf.org or 206-577-7809.