EN13 - Habitats protected or restored

AEP works in partnership with various community groups and environmental agencies to preserve, restore, and enhance existing habitats. AEP has even designed and built new areas, such as wetlands. The following is a list of those activities that support the protection and restoration of wildlife and ecological habitat.

Reforestation/Mine Reclamation
AEP's commitment to trees and forest preservation is strong and still growing. Since the 1940s AEP has planted over 63 million trees on land owned by, or under agreement with, the company. This total includes 15 million trees planted on 20,000 acres of company land between 1996 and 2000 as part of the Department of Energy's Climate Challenge program. These trees will create a new "carbon sink," which is intended to capture or "sequester" carbon dioxide, a greenhouse gas, thereby reducing the potential for global climate change.

International Centre for the Preservation of Wild Animals (The Wilds)
In 1986, AEP and the Ohio Power Company, an AEP subsidiary, donated nearly 9,200 acres of land in southeastern Ohio to the International Centre for the Preservation of Wild Animals, or The Wilds. Much of this land had been surface-mined and reclaimed, allowing it to be used in a beneficial manner. The land now supports more than 100 rare and endangered animals, including camels, hartebeests, and rhinos.

ReCreation Land
Thirty thousand acres of land in eastern Ohio was mined and reclaimed by Ohio Power's Central Ohio Coal Company, an AEP subsidiary. The land now has more than 350 lakes and ponds and nearly 380 campsites that more than 3.2 million people have enjoyed since 1961.

Simco Wetlands
AEP Fuel Supply and Pennsylvania State University designed a 16-acre wetland in east-central Ohio at the site of an abandoned underground coal mine in 1985. AEP donated the wetlands and an adjacent wildlife area – totaling 303 acres – to the Ohio Division of Wildlife in 1993.

Noel Kempff Mercado National Park
The park spans nearly 4 million acres in northeastern Bolivia in one of the most biologically diverse areas in the world. Preserving the forested acreage will protect its biological diversity and simultaneously reduce carbon dioxide releases into the atmosphere. The Park harbors several hundred species of rare and endangered wildlife. The area encompasses five important ecosystems ranging from Amazonian rain forest, gallery forest and semi-deciduous tropical forest to flooded savanna and dry cerrado. A rich variety of grasses, orchids (110 different species), and tree species bloom throughout the year. The diversity of the park's flora and fauna make it an ideal natural area for biological research and an outstanding attraction for ecotourism activities.

Guaraqueçaba Climate Action Project
The project seeks to restore and protect about 20,000 acres of partially degraded and/or deforested tropical forest within the Guaraqueçaba Environmental Protection Area in the Atlantic Rain Forest of southern Brazil. The project – a collaborative effort between AEP, The Nature Conservancy and Sociedade de Pesquisa em Vida Selvagem e Educação Ambiental, a Brazilian conservation organization – will promote assisted natural forest regeneration and regrowth on pastures and degraded forests on acquired lands. It will also protect standing forest that still exists within the project area but is under threat of deforestation. The project is expected to reduce or avoid emissions equivalent to approximately 1 million metric tons of carbon over the next 40 years. The project aims to produce significant carbon benefits, protect biodiversity and ecosystems, improve local environmental quality, and promote sustainable development by creating economic opportunities for local people. This Rain Forest has been designated as a World Biosphere Reserve, because more than 50 percent of its trees and plants are found nowhere else on earth.

Catahoula National Wildlife Refuge
American Electric Power, The Conservation Fund and the U.S. Department of the Interior's Fish & Wildlife Service (USFWS) have joined forces to acquire, protect and restore a bottomland hardwood forest on 18,372 acres near Catahoula Lake in east central Louisiana, a major haven for migratory birds in the Mississippi delta. AEP is restoring bottomland hardwood habitat by planting native trees on its property and a portion of the property owned by the USFWS. The entire 18,372 acres will be managed by the USFWS as part of Catahoula National Wildlife Refuge (NWR), one of 21 refuges in Louisiana, for the benefit of migratory birds, turkey, white-tailed deer and other wildlife.

Restoring the American Chestnut
AEP has committed to help restore the American Chestnut to its former glory by helping The American Chestnut Foundation (TACF). AEP and TACF have signed a Forest Management Partnership Agreement that states, in part, "Both parties agree that re-establishing this once flourishing native species will benefit the productivity and biodiversity of the forest for future generations. The purpose of this document is to provide a continuing foundation for the cooperative development of management strategies and research activities to establish, maintain and enhance the restoring of the American chestnut in the American forest."

By executing the agreement, AEP and TACF pledge to develop projects to promote restoration of the American chestnut. For example, AEP will endeavor to make its land available for planting chestnut seedlings and for future nursery sites. This is intended to help accelerate the number of seedlings that will be available for planting to restore the chestnut throughout the eastern U.S.

Protected Habitats
AEP has set aside land to protect state endangered plants, such as the Maryland meadowbeauty at the Rockport Plant or to protect mitigative wetlands. Mitigative wetlands are those that have been set aside to replace those that were unavoidably lost due to the construction of AEP facilities. The Corps of Engineers and/or state environmental agencies have approved these mitigation projects. Other areas that have been set aside to protect unique habitats, such as that at the Nipissing Dune Trail at the Cook Energy Information Center, are listed below:

• Gavin Plant (OH) – 20-acre wetland mitigation area includes constructed wetlands and buffer areas. This area also includes a nature trail and wildlife enhancements. Protected by a deed restriction.
• Conesville Plant (OH) – 13-acre wetland mitigation area includes constructed wetlands with wildlife enhancements. Protected by a deed restriction.
• Rockport Plant (IN) – Maryland meadowbeauty site is a one acre area set aside to preserve the habitat of a state endangered plant. The site is managed to prevent the growth of trees that would eventually shade out the meadowbeauty plants. Protected by an agreement with the State of Indiana.
• Mountaineer Plant (W. VA) – 18-acre mitigation area includes preservation of riparian zone along intermittent stream and a 1.5 acre constructed wetland. Protected by a deed restriction.
• Amos Plant (OH) – Mitigation areas include 65 acres of high quality wetland, 47 acres of high quality wetland, 154 acres of headwater watersheds and 11,250 feet of headwater streams, 37 acres of Kanawha River riparian area. All are protected by a deed restriction.
• Appalachian Power (VA) – A 90-acre area in southern Virginia was donated to the Virginia Chapter of The Nature Conservancy in 1992. The rugged mountainous land contains the second highest (200 ft) waterfall in the state and a virgin stand of Carolina hemlocks.
• Indiana and Michigan Power (IN) – A 140-acre blue heron rookery on the I&M former Breed Plant site in central Indiana is protected to allow the birds to remain undisturbed.
• Ohio Power (OH) - A 2,950-acre tract of marshland along Lake Erie's Sandusky Bay was transferred to The Nature Conservancy in 1986. The bay provides crucial nesting areas for Ohio's bald-eagle population and refuge for numerous other rare or endangered species.
• Buchanan Hydro (MI) – A 5.7-acre area of natural wetlands within 12 acres of property owned by AEP along the project boundaries, is permanently protected as “wetland preservation acreage.” This is a permanent preservation-restriction, recorded with the Berrien Springs County Register.
• Twin Branch Hydro (IN) – Mitigation includes the preservation of 7 acres of wetland and upland buffer adjacent to the St. Joseph River in Indiana, and management to control purple loosestrife. Protected by a deed restriction.
• Elkhart Hydro (IN) – One acre mitigation wetland constructed adjacent to the St. Joseph River in Indiana.
• Byllesby Hydro (VA) – 4.3-acre restored wetland adjacent to the New River in Virginia.
• Smith Mountain and Leesville Reservoirs (VA) – Shoreline Management Plans for these hydroelectric projects classifies 18 and 17 miles of shoreline respectively at each project, as Conservation/Environment. Such a classification protects the land and does not permit any shoreline disturbance without a variance, which requires consultation with resource agencies and prior approval from the Federal Energy Regulatory Agency.
• Cook Nuclear Plant (MI) – Has developed the 70-acre Nipissing Dune Trail and Cook Energy Information Center. The 4-mile trail and information center are open to the public and provide educational opportunities for learning about nature along Lake Michigan and about nuclear energy.
• Cook Coal Terminal (MI) – AEP established a 14-acre nature preserve to protect the Kentucky silver bell, a rare tree species near the AEP Cook Coal Terminal in southern Illinois in 1975.
• Comanche Power Station (OK) – Supported a pioneering colony of giant Canada geese in the 1980s when this variety was thought extinct until a small population was found. With help from the Oklahoma Department of Wildlife Conservation, the plant adopted a small number of pioneer goslings whose descendents have occupied the plant site ever since and are part of tremendously successful public/private recovery effort.
• Flint Creek Power Station (AR)– Eagle Watch. Wintering bald eagles congregate around the plant's cooling reservoir since its warmed waters do not freeze. The open water body provides fishing opportunities for wintering bald eagles and the eagles find the large surrounding trees great for roosting. The Eagle Watch pavilion, built by company personnel and local volunteers, offers the public an opportunity to see the eagles up close without disturbing them.
• Tulsa Power Station (OK) – Wave Park. The current created by the intake structure on the Arkansas River is popular with kayakers, however, the intake and bank were in need of repair. Through a deliberate process of evaluating the needs of all concerned, the area was restructured to preserve the unique kayaking current with a back eddy, while the intake was improved and bank erosion stabilized. Pedestrian access was made available by a switchback path from the top of the levee to the launch area.

Wildlife Habitat Council (WHC) Certifications at AEP Facilities
Several AEP facilities have active wildlife stewardship programs that include at least one, and sometimes several, of the following enhancement projects – bluebird houses, wood duck boxes, kestrel boxes, bat roosting boxes, osprey nesting platforms, wildlife food plots, ornamental/pollinator plantings, habitat enhancements, such as brush piles and rotational mowing, control of invasive species, nature trails, and educational programs. All of the facilities have received certification from an independent organization, the Wildlife Habitat Council. More information about the programs at each of these AEP facilities can be obtained at: WHC certified sites registry. The facilities involved in the program, and certification dates, are as follows:

• Amos Plant - 1999
• Big Sandy Plant - 1997
• Buffalo Run - 1999
• Cardinal Plan - 2002
• Conesville Plant - 2002
• Cook Nuclear Plant - 1997
• Craney Ridge - 1998
• Flint Creek Plant - 2002
• Gavin Plant - 1997
• Kammer-Mitchell Plant - 2003
• Mountaineer Plant (1,300 acres of enhanced habitat) - 1998
• Muskingum River Plant - 2002
• Northeastern Plant - 2004
• Picway Plant - 2006
• Raptor Platforms Project - 1999
• ReCreation Land (30,000 acre recreational area) - 1998
• Rockport Plant (Honey Creek Farm / Nature Trail for multiple use) - 2002
• Tanners Creek Plant (Passion flower [Maypop] preservation area) - 2002
• Morgan County, KY (National Wild Turkey Federation 100 acres of habitat on transmission line ROW- 100 acres).
• The Wilds (9,200 acre donation – Africa, Asia & North America educational genetic research and breeding program to preserve endangered species) - 1986

As an example of how these programs are implemented at the power plants, the following description of such a program at the Northeastern Power Station Program is provided: The Northeastern Power Station has been certified since 2004 and plant staff have committed to enhancing on-site environmental stewardship initiatives. The site consists of approximately 1,300 acres, one thousand of which are designated for wildlife. Habitat types include secondary forests, grasslands and wetlands. A creek that traverses through the property and six ponds provide additional benefits to waterfowl.

The main objective of the Northeastern Power Station's wildlife management team is to improve wildlife habitat on plant grounds. The nest box project is the foundation of the site's wildlife program. Boxes for screech owls, eastern bluebirds, kestrels and barn owls are erected throughout the site. Local Boy Scout Troops and experts help construct and monitor the nest boxes. Future projects include creating nesting opportunities for purple martins and wood ducks, food plots, native plantings and a nature trail.