Zoo council to meet with state reps

ASHEBORO May 14, 2008 03:30 pm

— The N.C. Zoological Park Council will hold its spring meeting in Raleigh this month to meet with state legislators and discuss funding for the zoo.
The meeting is set for 11:30 a.m. May 28, in the Archdale Building at 512 N. Salisbury St., home of the N.C. Department of Environment and Natural Resources.
Prior to the meeting, council members will join with officials from the zoo, the N.C. Zoological Society and the Asheboro City Council to visit with individual legislators to discuss the zoo's request for $6 million in capital funding during this year's session of the Legislature.
Focus on more than bottom line
ASHEBORO - N.C. Zoological Society Board directors agreed at their April 23 meeting to ask the state Legislature to provide $6 million to expand the polar bear exhibit, construct a children's nature zoo and fund planning for improvements to the African Pavilion exhibit. If the state comes through with this funding, the Zoo Society will provide an additional $4 million in private donations.
Also at the April 23 meeting, the board elected Therence O. Pickett of Greensboro to serve as a new board director. Pickett is chief legal officer for Volvo Trucks, North America.
Zoo wins top energy award
ASHEBORO - The N.C. Zoo was named the 2008 recipient of the N.C. Sustainable Energy Champion Award presented at the fifth annual N.C. Sustainable Energy Conference held in Raleigh. The Sustainable Energy Awards are presented annually to agencies and individuals that have made outstanding contributions in helping North Carolina achieve its sustainability goals. The zoo was recognized for nearly 20 years as a state leader in environmental stewardship, energy efficiency, alternative fuels and renewable energy.
Led by its Conservation Captains committee, the zoo has developed a variety of sustainable programs including recycling, water meters, reduced water usage, energy management and composting. Other zoo projects include a biodiesel processor that converts waste cooking oil to diesel fuel, solar picnic shelters that produce enough electricity to run 13 homes and a constructed wetland that filters runoff water from its North America parking lot.
Zoo awards grants for ideas
ASHEBORO - Ten employees of the N.C. Zoo have been selected to receive full or partial funding for innovative ideas for supporting the zoo's conservation, education and recreation missions. In total, the N.C. Zoo Society and the Randolph Friends of the Zoo awarded more than $10,800 in grants to fund training, equipment and personnel for projects ranging from seabird egg incubation to environmental education.
n Sarah McCrory, seabird and falcon zookeeper, receives $572 for a telemetric egg to monitor incubation of horned puffin eggs. Data gained from the project will be used to write a protocol for artificially incubating puffin eggs.
n Zoo Design Graphics Technician Lance Hill receives $1,200 to partially fund attendance at a Roland Productivity Workshop in North Kingstown, R.I. The workshop will provide training in productivity, maintenance and use of the Roland printer/cutter machine.
n A grant of $1,345 goes to zoo Network Manager Bill Seward to attend the 2008 Association of Zoos and Aquariums' Information Technology Conference at the Oregon Coast Aquarium in Newport, Ore. The conference provides updates on information technology issues important to zoo operations.
n Delores Foland, interior grounds supervisor, receives two grants totaling $1,530 to send members of the zoo horticulture staff to purchase plants not found in local nurseries. Grants of $630 and $900 will be used to purchase orchids and other plants primarily for the Aviary and African Pavilion.
n Dana Cox, team leader for the zoo's Visitor Services on-line reservation program, receives $600 to partially fund participation in the Radiant Systems CounterPoint User's Conference in Atlanta. The conference will contribute to improved customer service at the zoo.
n Stephen Moore, grounds supervisor, receives a $740.68 grant to purchase a tiller to support the zoo's Volunteer Browse Garden. The Browse Garden, maintained largely by volunteers, provides organic vegetables and fruits for many of the zoo's animals.
n Corrine Benbow, Natural Science Curator, receives $928 to send Interior Horticulture staff to visit Atlanta Botanic Garden in Atlanta. Information gained from the visit will be incorporated into procedures for maintaining the zoo's plant collections.
n Jennifer Bowers, cat and chimp keeper, receives $1,400 to attend the 2009 Animal Behavior Alliance Conference. The conference will present information on improving the daily lives of zoo animals through training and enrichment.
n Alexander J. Elton, Arbor grounds worker, receives a $1,417.50 grant for two horticulture staff members to attend the International Society of Arboriculture Mid-Atlantic 30th annual conference in Blacksburg, Va. The conference provides information and contacts related to the latest arboricultural techniques, best practices and new technology that can be used at the zoo.
n Steve Gerkin, zoo visitor educator, receives $1,140.50 to attend the Association of Zoos and Aquariums Zoo-School program, "Meeting Your Institutional Mission with Program Animals." Information from the class will enable zoo educators to enhance existing environmental education programs as well as develop new programs in the future.
Horticulture division wins award
ASHEBORO - The N.C. Zoo's Horticulture Division was one of the first-place winners of the 2007 N.C. Department of Environment and Natural Resources Sustainability Awards given March 11 at Raleigh. DENR, the zoo's parent department in Raleigh, presented the annual awards in three categories: Individual Small Project, Individual Large Project and Group Project.
The zoo's Horticulture Division received the first-place award in the "Group Project" for their work on an American Chestnut tree reintroduction program.
The award was given to the horticulture staff members for their initiative to reintroduce the American Chestnut tree to the southern Appalachian region near Asheville in hopes of demonstrating that this once very endangered tree can be reintroduced and survive.
Varying from the normal practice of presenting a first, second and third award in each of the three categories, DENR presented three first-place awards in this year's "Group Project" category.
The two other first-place category winners went to members of the N.C. Albemarle-Pamlico National Estuary Program for their work on the Low Impact Development Demonstration and Oil-Recycling Demonstration Project and to the N.C. Division of Marine Fisheries Oyster-Shell Recycling Program for their work in managing a statewide program to rebuild North Carolina's oyster habitats.
Presiding at the meeting and presenting the awards was DENR Deputy Secretary Bill Laxton. The award ceremony is a function of the DENR Sustainability Team.