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 many different locations, Bridgestone Americas donates land, time, and funding to the efforts of groups working to improve the habitat of both people and wildlife. These places provide a setting that helps bring a sense of peace and a connection with 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 bequeathed a further 6,000 acres to the people of Tennessee, in honor of the Centennial of the Firestone Tire & Rubber Company, thereby creating 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 includes a 16-mile stretch of the Caney Fork River, is located near Bledsoe State Forest and Fall Creek Falls State Resort Park and Natural Area 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 wildlife habitat areas. The campuses of our tire plants in Warren County, Tennessee, Wilson, North Carolina, and Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, 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, and this area has been the focus of 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 will be shut down. Bridgestone Americas has set aside 100 acres of the land, on which the plant currently resides, for wildlife habitat enhancements. Fifteen of the acres will be used by the Western Heights school district. Plans include the creation of a new elementary school and multiple outdoor learning settings. The remaining acreage will be 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, nonlobbying 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 teaching young people to respect and preserve nature will have far-reaching benefits. For that reason, we also support programs involving Boy 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 5 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
