Introduction
Welcome to the Community section of the Bridgestone Americas Environmental Report. In the Teammates section we highlighted what our individual teammates do on a yearly basis to support environmental initiatives across the Americas. In this section, we highlight what Bridgestone Americas, as a corporate entity, has done to promote environmental conservation, preservation, and restoration. We are proud of this tradition and how it reflects our belief in Trust and Pride.
Preserving Areas of Wilderness
In a number of locations, both in North and South America, Bridgestone Americas donates land, time, and funding to the efforts of groups working to improve the local habitat for both people and wildlife. These environments provide a sense of peace, and a connection with both nature and one another - where our children and future generations can return to share the experience.
We believe that these acts of conservation are an important part of being a good corporate citizen.
Bridgestone Firestone Centennial Wilderness
In September 1998, Bridgestone Americas donated 4,000 acres of virtually untouched land near Sparta, Tennessee to the State of Tennessee. In April 2000, company chairman and CEO Masatoshi Ono donated an additional 6,000 acres to the people of Tennessee, in honor of the Centennial of the Firestone Tire & Rubber Company, to create the Bridgestone Firestone Centennial Wilderness. This land is one of the last large untouched wilderness areas east of the Mississippi.
Known locally as Scott’s Gulf and managed by the Tennessee Wildlife Resources Agency (TWRA), the Wilderness is a tract of untold complexity and magnificent beauty. It is located near Bledsoe State Forest and Fall Creek Falls State Resort Park and Natural Area, includes a 16-mile stretch of the Caney Fork River, and encompasses the watershed of Virgin Falls State Natural Area. The area contains hardwood forests, river gorges, scenic overlooks, waterfalls, wildflowers, unexplored caves, and many rare or endangered flora and fauna.
The Wilderness is open for limited, low-impact public use, including fishing, canoeing, kayaking, hiking, and hunting. Due to the desire to maintain the land as wilderness, no manmade structures will be built in the river gorge, motorized vehicles are prohibited from all but a few authorized areas and no timber will ever be commercially harvested.
To find out more about the Bridgestone/Firestone Centennial Wilderness, please visit the following website: http://www.firestone100.com/road/wild_bottom_fr.html
In addition to the Centennial Wilderness area, Bridgestone Americas has established five other wildlife habitat areas. The campuses of our tire plants in Warren County, Tennessee, Wilson, North Carolina, and Aiken, South Carolina, include sizeable refuges for native plants and animals. In Cecil County, Maryland, Bridgestone Americas assumed responsibility for a municipal landfill with a groundwater contamination problem. Together with the Wildlife Habitat Council, Bridgestone Americas transformed the site into “The Woodlawn Wildlife Area”. The restoration program included planting native wildflowers, planting shrubs and trees on and around the landfill cap, planting in an island configuration as opposed to rows and placing raptor perches on the landfill. Additionally, we purchased 50 acres of land adjacent to Woodlawn, for the purpose of encouraging community involvement and environmental education. The success of the Woodlawn project led to a similar landfill restoration in Akron, Ohio at The Industrial Excess Landfill (IEL).
In 2007, our tire manufacturing plant in Oklahoma City was shut down. Bridgestone Americas gave 60 acres of the land, on which the plant resided, for wildlife habitat enhancements. Twenty of the acres are now used by the Western Heights school district. Plans include the creation of a new elementary school and multiple outdoor learning settings. The remaining acreage is set aside for wildlife habitat restoration and open space and will be adjacent to the school district’s acreage.
The Wildlife Habitat Council (WHC) is a nonprofit, non-lobbying 501(c)(3) group of corporations, conservation organizations and individuals dedicated to restoring and enhancing wildlife habitat. Created in 1988, WHC helps large landowners, particularly corporations, manage their unused lands in an ecologically sensitive manner for the benefit of wildlife. More than 2 million acres in 48 states, Puerto Rico, and 16 other countries are managed for wildlife through WHC-assisted projects.
The Wildlife Habitat Council is just one of many conservation organizations that Bridgestone Americas works with to conserve land and protect the environment. Other organizations that we work with include: The Nature Conservancy, The Conservation Fund, The Cumberland River Compact, and the Tennessee Wildlife Heritage Trust, among others.
We know that teaching young people to respect and preserve nature will have far-reaching benefits. For this reason, we also support programs involving Boy Scouts of America, Girl Scouts of America Boys and Girls Clubs, Future Farmers of America, The First Tee, 4-H, Kids for a Clean Environment, and other regional organizations and activities.
In addition to supporting the environmental and education programs already mentioned, the Bridgestone Firestone Trust Fund supports a wide variety of important charities in the United States, particularly in those markets it calls home. While contributions are made to nearly a hundred organizations each year, the Trust Fund focuses on organizations with missions supporting: 1) education, 2) environment and conservation, and 3) children’s programs. Including national and local charities, the Trust Fund has donated more than $20 million in the past five years.
We are grateful to have these opportunities to make a difference in the world our children will inherit.
To request more information the Bridgestone Firestone Trust Fund, please email us at the following address: bfstrustfund@bfusa.com
Bridgestone Environmental Education Classroom and Habitat (BEECH)
The Bridgestone Environmental Education Classroom and Habitat (BEECH) incorporates interdisciplinary studies with environmental education. Students learn outdoors through field studies, as well as in a hands-on classroom. Along the nature trail, for example, a fallen log can provide an excellent lesson on life cycles: the broken nuts on top indicate that “someone” enjoyed lunch; the Lichen or green fungus provide nourishment, the Eastern Fence Lizard is well camouflaged for protection; and a variety of decomposers and other species find their home under the log. In the classroom, students learn first-hand about composting and planting seeds, and enjoy animal visitors like Steve the Snake.
As a result of the program, and in addition to the incredible educational benefits provided by the BEECH, Bridgestone has also assisted a local school in starting a recycling program, which was successful enough to force the local recycling center to add and enlarge its containers and expand materials collected for recycling. The school now has 60 students in their Green Club.
The BEECH has been tremendously successful in providing environmental education in a fun and adventuresome way. In 2009, the Wildlife Habitat Council expects 7,200 students to visit and learn from the BEECH.
