Vulcan Materials recognized for wildlife habitat

By Jessie Burchette, Salisbury Post

GOLD HILL -- Deer and wild turkeys flourish with abundant plots of food and thick clumps of bushes nearby for cover.

Wood ducks and heron spend a quiet afternoon on a glistening emerald pond.

It's a wildlife wonderland, and it's in a most unlikely place -- the Vulcan Materials Co.'s Gold Hill Quarry.

The N.C. Wildlife Federation recently honored the Gold Hill Quarry and its employees for creating valuable wildlife habitat on its grounds.

Vulcan is one of a few companies that works with the Wildlife Federation in a Wildlife and Industry Together (WAIT) program designed to foster public awareness and participation in conserving, restoring and protecting wildlife and its habitat.

The Gold Hill Quarry is the fourth site in North Carolina to become a certified WAIT site.

"Vulcan has set a precedent, they've shown that it works," said Tim Gestwicki, WAIT program coordinator for the state. Vulcan Materials, based in Birmingham, Ala., is the nation's foremost producer of construction aggregates. It has annual sales of over $2 billion and has 21 operations in North Carolina.

"Promoting and maintaining a healthy environment is part of our operating plan," said Guy Medlin, plant manager. "Environmental partnerships and well-managed wildlife projects benefit us all."

The Gold Hill Quarry was first certified as a Wildlife Habitat Site in 1992 and has received numerous awards for beautification and employee safety.

Patsy Johnson, a Vulcan employee, operates the quarry crushing equipment and also coordinates the wildlife program at the Gold Hill Quarry.

When she's not operating the monster machine, she's putting out new wood duck boxes or checking on other elements of the wildlife program.

On her lunch break, she often walks deep into the old quarry. As hawks and other birds soar overhead, their shadows skim across the deep green water in the base of the pit.

Turtles, oh so big, take a nap in the midday sun.

Another day, Johnson may walk over the sprawling acreage broken up into sections by top soil piled high in berms.

Blackberry briars and dozens of other plants and bushes cover the berms, providing food and cover for the wildlife.

And the berms break the noise from the quarry operation.

A few hundred yards away from the crushing operation, the call of birds is the loudest sound heard.

Nestled amidst the bush- and plant-covered berms is a campsite for Scouts and other groups.

Gestwicki, who is with the Wildlife Federation, recently visited the quarry to present a certificate and tour the quarry property.

Partnerships are key to the success of the program, he said. A wildlife habitat plan is developed in coordination with employees and local volunteers, such as biologists from the N.C. Wildlife Resources Commission, landscape experts, high school and college environmental science and biology classes, garden clubs and youth groups.

Vulcan partners include Boy Scout troops who have helped erect nesting boxes and label trees.

In 2004, a biology class from Gray Stone Day School, a charter school on the Pfeiffer University campus, plans to measure the amphibian and reptile population in the wildlife area. They will use something called "cover boards," which are tiny boards or strips of wood or metal placed on the ground around the quarry property. The students will periodically check under the boards to determine what's living there.

A big plus for the program at the Gold Hill Quarry is the large number of hunters among the employees.

Johnson and Medlin say the hunters are more aware of the needs of deer and wild turkeys, and they're willing to spend time working on food plots or enhancing cover areas.

The quarry is looking for more schools, Scout troops or similar groups to partner with the company on wildlife projects.

Projects include a blue bird and purple martin nesting box program, food plots for wildlife, the amphibian-reptile monitoring program and a butterfly garden.

Plans are under way for a wildlife viewing area and development of a quail habitat.

Vulcan and Duke Energy are among the companies that work to create and maintain wildlife areas.

Recently, the N.C. Association of State Land Reclamationists selected the Vulcan quarry in Cabarrus County as a winner in its 2003 Outreach Awards Program.

The Cabarrus quarry, which began operations in 1986, has 150 acres managed as a wildlife habitat and public education project. It was the first site in North Carolina to be certified as a WAIT site.

Duke Power's Buck Steam Station was one of the first sites in the state recognized as a WAIT location.

At Buck, an old ash settling pond is now home to blue herons and wood ducks. Blue bird boxes dot a large area of the site. Two osprey nesting platforms have been erected, and food plots have been planted for deer.

The site at Buck is used extensively as an outdoor classroom by Lisa Wear, an education specialist at Horizons Unlimited.

Several wildlife projects are under way at Buck Steam Station, including studies of monarch butterflies, amphibians and reptiles and blue birds.

There is no charge to participate in the WAIT program.

School groups or others interested in visiting the quarry or partnering on a wildlife project should call the quarry at 704- 279-5566.

For more information on the WAIT program, contact Gestwicki at 704-377-4696; or e-mail him at ncfw-charlotte @mindspring.com.

Contact Jessie Burchette at 704-797-4254 or jburchette @salisburypost.com.