So where are all of these Backyard Habitats?

Apparently, it’s a bit labor intensive to get the Certified Backyard Habitat stats city-by city. Thanks to Roxanne Paul of the National Wildlife Federation for sending this partial list before dashing off on her vacation.

Campbell: 12
Cupertino: 9
Los Altos: 16
Los Altos Hills: 3
Los Gatos: 14
Menlo Park: 4
Palo Alto: 17
San Jose: 99
Santa Clara: 9
Saratoga: 5

Landscaper Sherri Osaka told me today that she had one and they’re not that hard to do.

Schools are a pillar of real estate value. So when a school district redraws boundaries, it’s going to raise a lot more than eyebrows.

Los Altos is in that situation. Anyone who is planning to purchase a home in this city, needs to make sure that they are up to date on the new Los Altos School District attendance boundaries that were adopted on June 18, 2007. They will go into effect during the 2008-09 school year. Families already enrolled have already received a letter from the board.

School overcrowding is frequently a problem when choosing a new home. An incoming family may turned away from the neighborhood school due to maxed out enrollment.

Since 1999, Los Altos School District has been dealing with this problem by renovating and modernizing existing buildings, replacing the ninety leased portable classrooms with new buildings, and to reopen Covington School.

I recently talked with a neighbor in Palo Alto who’s really into animals. I asked if their backyard landscaping was completed. She showed me how the family had “gone wild” to reintroduce native tree frogs and toads to the environment with their new pond and supporting vegetation.

This family is not alone. The National Wildlife Federation has certified over 80,000 Backyard Wildlife Habitats nationwide. There are 77 certified in San Mateo County and 237 in Santa Clara County

It seems we can create a landscape that incorporates locally appropriate planting for wildlife and human habitation. Locally-developed Sustainable Landscape Standards give wildlife habitat one point out of 49. The fascination factor is much higher. It is not as difficult as you’d expect to help support wildlife in your backyard. My neighbor incorporated a water feature in the garden for birds and other animals, including local fish. The downside may be that the local egrets eat the fish.

Another gardening for wildlife suggestion is to provide food, shelter, cover, and water for wildlife such as mammals, birds, hummingbirds, beneficial insects, bees, andbutterflies You can pick and choose what you want to attract. No one will convince me to support my yard’s ant population.

A third, obvious choice is to eliminate pesticides whenever possible by using integrated pest management practices to preserve native insects, birds, and other small creatures.

At the end of my backyard tour, half joking, I asked my neighbor, “What’s next, bats?” Apparently, the bat houses are already ordered and should arrive by end of summer.

Does it seem like school kids know more about basic safety that you do? They’ve learned to “duck ‘n’ cover” and have fire drills. Aside from First Aid and CPR training, it’s been years since I’ve done any emergency roll playing.

We all know that The Big One’s coming. You don’t need to remind the folks in Tahoe or Oklahoma that preparing for fire or flood is important. Closer to home we’ve had fires at the Stanford Dish and on University Ave. On top of that, we now have to worry about pandemic flu and terrorist attacks.

So, at Palo Alto’s Chili Cook-Off in Mitchell Park, I helped out with the emergency preparedness booth. I’ve got an earthquake kit, spare water, and first aid bags in the house and cars, but I figured I could always learn more about being better prepared. Mountain View’s disaster preparedness group also had a booth there.

There are all sorts of new products out there. Even some of the basic — stuff that you’d find at any – seem to improve annually. I ordered some Safety Lights to replace my dangerous and toxic incendiary flares.

I was impressed with some of the survival kits. In case of emergency, grab the bag and go. You’ve got three days of supplies, which is about how long it will take for the government to get around to help us out. (We were giving out yo-yo’s at the booth: YO-YO stands for “You’re On Your Own” in a disaster.) Ready to start? Keep it simple and just order a survival kit. Or take a broader view by looking over the checklist from SOS Survival Products and decide what you’re willing to start with. We’ve been adding to our kits since Y2K.

The Red Cross Store carries the basics. Many emergency preparedness websites have lists or categories as a way to navigate through the products. Look for first aid or survival kits, food and water, shelter and sanitation, lights and radios, and tools. Some of the sites I’ve found helpful are Quake Pro, Major Surplus & Survival, Emergency Preparedness Service, and Life Gear

Need to safeguard your furry friends? United Animal Nations specializes in emergency supplies for animals, although I easily found kits on iPrepare.com and Quake Kare as well. Who knew there was such a thing?

Maybe you’re like me and like to handle the products first. Start with a local retailer like Redwood Trading Post in Redwood City or Somewhere Out West in Mountain View.

As Quake Pro says, “Preparedness doesn’t cost, it pays!”