There's wildlife in Bethlehem backyards, and people are happy about it.

Members of Bethlehem Backyards for Wildlife (BBFW) showed their efforts to members of the City Council Parks and Public Property Committee at a meeting before the regular council meeting Aug. 4.

Council member and Committee chair Cathy Reuscher was joined by committee members Bryan Callahan and Mark Recchiuti as well as Council member Louis Stellato.

BBFW Committee is a subsidiary of the Bethlehem Environmental Advisory Council. Committee member Martha Christine explained the group's mission to support biodiversity in local gardens while minimizing environmental impact.

Formed in 2008, BBFW encourages city residents, schools, businesses and other organizations to use wildlife-friendly and ecologically sustainable gardening. This includes providing a source of food, shelter, and water for wildlife, and native plants with a variety of heights.

The group earned community wildlife habitat certification from the National Wildlife Federation and has recertified yearly. The certification involved more than 200 homes as well as parks, schools and other public places such as Sand Island Native Plant Preserve, Friendship Park, West Side Park, Greenway Meadow, Rose Garden Peace Pole, and the Sculpture Garden at City Hall.

"We do a lot of volunteer work in parks, weeding, planting," Martha Christine explained. She said the parks department and the city arborist have been very helpful.

Roseanne Amano of BBFW said the group really specializes in promoting native plants in gardens, especially those that attract wildlife and pollinators such as bees.

The group has worked with schools such as Lehigh University, Buchanan Elementary, and East Hills MS, as well as local churches. We're really proud of all the work we have done, Amano said, noting that Bethlehem was the first city in Pennsylvania certified as a community wildlife habitat.

Ilse Stoll, another BBFW member, explained that the group has partnered with others in the community, including the Elm Street Project, Mount Airy Neighborhood Association, Fox Environmental Education Center, Delaware & Lehigh Canal Heritage Corridor, Bethlehem Garden Club, Master Gardeners, Birdtown Coalition, Lehigh Univerisity and Moravian College, and the Bethlehem Area School District.

"We've partnered with all there is in the Lehigh Valley," she noted.

Christine Royson of BBFW asked the committee members if it would be possible to have road signs announcing the certification as a "community wildlife habitat" and possibly a presence on the city website to provide information.

Reuscher thanked the group for their efforts, adding "I can't imagine the hours you have put in."

Recchiuti suggested that group become an official nonprofit 501(c)3 so residents' donations toward their efforts would be tax deductible.

Callahan also thanked the group for their work and Stellato said he was "very impressed."