Congaree National Park becomes first Poo-Poo Project east of the Mississippi
April 7, 2016
With the installation of 4 Poo-Poo Screens, Congaree National Park becomes Teton Raptor Center’s first Poo-Poo Project partner east of the Mississippi. The screens have been placed on ventilation pipes of vault toilets in the park in order to prevent wildlife entrapment and increase awareness of this nationwide wildlife hazard.
Each year thousands of cavity-nesters, animals that prefer dark, narrow spaces for nesting and roosting, become entrapped in vertical open pipes such as ventilation pipes, claim stakes and chimneys. Vault toilets, the self-contained restrooms found in many of America’s wilderness areas, feature 12” vertical ventilation pipes that mimic the natural cavities preferred by various bird species for nesting and roosting. Once a bird enters a ventilation pipe and is inside the vault toilet it can become permanently entrapped and succumb to starvation or disease. Compared to other screening options, the Poo-Poo Screens are extremely durable, easy to install, very affordable and have superior ventilation.
Teton Raptor Center, a nonprofit raptor conservation organization based in Jackson Hole, Wyoming, created the Port-O-Potty Owl Project, affectionately known as the “Poo-Poo Project”, in response to a photo of a Boreal Owl trapped in the bottom of a vault toilet. In 2010, they initiated a community-driven project to install 100 Poo-Poo screens on the ventilation pipes of vault toilets throughout Wyoming’s Grand Teton National Park, as well as the Bridger-Teton and Caribou-Targhee National Forests. Including the 4 Poo-Poo Screens at Congaree National Park, 5,796 Poo-Poo Screens can be found throughout 16 western states from Alaska to Texas, and now South Carolina. In 2014, Teton Raptor Center was awarded the Wing Across the Americas Award for Habitat and Partnership from the U.S. Forest Service in recognition of the conservation impact of the Poo-Poo Project.
“We are pleased to be able to work with the Teton Raptor Center on this project,” says Facility Manager William Reilly, “As we work to improve park facilities for the visitor we are also committed to protecting the wildlife. These screens are an important part of those efforts.”
“Teton Raptor Center is proud of its partnerships with public lands managers, volunteers and conservationists and we are very excited to work with Congaree National Park as they add the Poo-Poo Project to their growing list of conservation accomplishments and help elevate awareness and understanding of the hazards of open pipes on both public and private lands,” said David Watson, TRC’s Poo-Poo Project Coordinator.
To learn more about Teton Raptor Center’s Poo-Poo Project, or their education, research and rehabilitation programs, call (307) 203-2551 or visit www.tetonraptorcenter.org.
For more information about Congaree National Park, call 803.647.3970 or visit www.nps.gov/cong.
Join Congaree National Park on social media: www.facebook.com/CongareeNP, www.twitter.com/CongareeNPS, www.flickr.com/photos/congareenps/ and www.pinterest.com/congareenps.
Celebrate the Centennial of the National Park Service in 2016! The centennial will kick off a second century of stewardship of America’s national parks and engaging communities through recreation, conservation, and historic preservation programs. For more information, visit www.nps.gov/subjects/centennial. Find Your Park at www.findyourpark.com.
