Doane College's Crete campus, an arboretum widely recognized for its beauty, recently added another important landscape designation.
In March, the campus was certified as a Wildlife Habitat by the National Wildlife Federation. The designation recognizes the 300-acre campus for creating wildlife havens.
Doane's student Wildlife and Conservation Organization chapter completed the application for the program, demonstrating the campus':
* Food sources, such as native plants, seeds, fruits, nuts, berries and nectar
* Water sources like ponds and streams
* Wildlife cover, including thickets and birdhouses
* Places for wildlife to raise young, such as dense shrubs and vegetation
* Sustainable gardening, including the use of mulch and compost.The certification program recognizes individuals and groups for creating landscapes that restore ecological balance and invite wild plants and animals to share the space - as opposed to landscaping options dominated by lawn, exotic ornamental plants and dependence on chemicals, landscapes that banish wildlife.
Doane is now also included in the National Wildlife Federation's national registry of habitat sites.
Doane's Crete campus is 137 years old. Doane was the first college to become a member of the Nebraska Statewide Arboretum. The campus was also the first in the state to be designated as a Groundwater Guardian Green Site by the Groundwater Foundation. Groundwater-friendly practices are utilized to reduce chemicals applied to lawns and low-water maintenance is practiced. The campus includes a historic district with century-old pines and deciduous trees, nature trails, ponds, an outdoor amphitheatre, azalea and rose gardens, wetland and prairie areas.