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Musing in Missoula: Reflections of an AmeriCorps Member
Eliza is all smiles about Garden for Wildlife® at the Clark Fork River Market. Credit: Naomi Aldaheff
2024 was a year of pulling cheatgrass, traveling to Lowe’s to exclusively purchase concrete and stacks of terra cotta planter bases, tabling through direct sun and pouring rain, and enjoying every minute! My name is Eliza Lindley, and I was this year’s AmeriCorps member serving at NWF’s Northern Rockies, Prairies, and Pacific office. My role centered on coordinating our education and outreach on NWF’s Garden for Wildlife® program here in Missoula, and I had the absolute time of my life.
For those who might be unfamiliar, the Garden for Wildlife® program provides an accessible framework for creating urban habitat connectivity. It encourages people to sustainably offer food, water, cover, and places to raise young in their outdoor spaces. Once they’ve met the requirements, they can certify their space–anything from a balcony to a huge property–as a Certified Wildlife Habitat®.
The city of Missoula, Montana has so embraced the program that in 2018, it became recognized as a Community Wildlife Habitat! My role this year aimed to further the mission of GFW by helping more people find out about the program, get engaged with local native plant gardens, and learn more about Montana wildlife.
I did over 60 events this year, almost all of which centered on the community of Missoula, and I reached over 2,300 people. I like to think of most of these events as fitting into four main categories: workshops, kids’ activities, tabling & outreach, and volunteering. Here’s a quick breakdown of each one!
Workshops
I put on six workshops this year in partnership with Missoula Urban Demonstration Project (MUD), reaching a total of 72 people. Our idea with this series, an adaptation of the Habitat Stewards program, was to provide participants the tools & know-how to complete a habitat project for their own backyard.
From rain barrels to bird baths to garden design, we covered a wide range of topics. One of my favorite workshop memories was spending a cheery spring morning creating blocks of suet with a sweet group of attendees.
Kids’ events
In addition to workshops, I spent 20 different events working with groups of kids! This included everything from summer camps to school classrooms to youth expos, and I reached over 700 people through this medium. My goal with these events was to use engaging crafts, games, and activities to help kids learn about (and get excited about!) Montana wildlife. Some highlight activities for me were our wildlife CSI challenge, aquatic macroinvertebrates, and the Certified Fairy Habitat activity that I created.
Tabling
To share resources and excitement about the Garden for Wildlife® program, I spent a lot of time tabling at community events. Across 20 different outreach days, I reached over 1300 people! One of my favorite aspects of this type of event was the wide variety of connections I was able to make: people learning about the program for the first time, avid gardeners looking for new ideas, and even friendships with my tabling neighbors. There were so many rewarding and meaningful conversations to be had!
Volunteering
Lastly, I hosted seven garden volunteer events in partnership with local organizations, engaging over 40 volunteers. The main goal with these was to get community members out in the dirt and excited about the amazing habitats & resources we have in the Missoula area. One of my favorite events we hosted was a volunteer day at Highlander Beer in partnership with Clark Fork Coalition, where we were weeding and replanting in their riparian restoration area. The weather was perfect, the spirits were high, and it was a fantastic day to be outside & in community.
My key takeaways from the year are as follows:
- Missoula is a special place. It’s quirky & fun. It’s committed to creating habitat. And most of all, it’s incredibly community-centered.
- Partnerships are essential. I’m convinced that the only reason any of my events saw any amount of success was the incredible community partnerships that I was able to foster. Every single time, the whole was much greater than the sum of its parts!
- Conservation can (and should) start small. Garden for Wildlife® is all about creating little pockets of wildlife habitat, dotted across a people-centered landscape. Getting certified only requires a few simple steps, many of which people are probably already taking. But the important thing is that it gets them thinking about intentionally welcoming wildlife as their neighbors, and that makes a big difference. It’s been an honor to play even a small part in this!
Interested in keeping up with this work as the 2025 AmeriCorps member carries it on? Follow us on Instagram at @gardenforwildlifemissoula, or on Facebook at Garden for Wildlife Missoula, to stay up to date on all of our upcoming activities–and wildlife fun!
