Veteran Master Gardener Bill Wood and biologist Anita McMillan will discuss backyard wildlife habitat at the next brown Green Thumb Gardening Tips at noon on Thursday, Oct. 25, in the county commissioners’ meeting room of the Clallam County Courthouse, 223 E. Fourth St., Port Angeles.

In the pair’s “Your Yard is Wildlife Habitat” presentation, Wood will provide an overview of the Gary Oak Restoration project to restore native grasses and Savanna-oak woodlands on the Sequim prairie. He will discuss why the rehabilitation of the shrub and grassy areas to the original prairie flora is important to nesting and other species that depend completely upon the native habitat.

McMillan will lead a discussion on the nuances that make home gardens sustainable wildlife habitats. She will focus on the garden settings of attendees and explain how any garden can be friendlier to pollinators, birds and other wildlife, regardless of the size of the yard. She’ll also talk about native plantings that grow well in wet, cool winters and dry, moderately hot summers, as well as invasives and the challenges they present.

A Master Gardener since 2001, Wood has spearheaded efforts to re-establish the oak-savanna habitat at Carrie Blake Park. He retired from the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife after a 27-year career.

McMillan has worked as a Wildlife Biologist for the Washington State Department of Fish and Wildlife in Clallam and West Jefferson Counties since 1986.

The Green Thumb Gardening Tips series is presented on the second and fourth Thursdays of the month and is free and open to the public. Attendees are invited to bring a lunch. For more information, call 360-565-2679.