CHESHIRE, Ohio, Nov. 16, 2001 - For the third time since 1997, the Wildlife Habitat Council has given the “thumbs up” sign to the wildlife habitat area at American Electric Power’s (NYSE: AEP) Gen. James M. Gavin Plant.

The Wildlife Habitat Council recently renewed its certification for Gavin Plant’s 1,000-acre grounds as a national wildlife habitat. The non-profit group, which is headquartered in Silver Spring, Md., originally approved Gavin Plant as a certified wildlife habitat in 1997. Gavin was recertified for a two-year term in 1999.

“Earning recertification from the Wildlife Habitat Council for another two-year term isn’t an automatic thing,” said Don Anderson, a team leader at Gavin who oversees the plant’s environmental compliance. “The council sent a representative from its Pittsburgh office to conduct an inspection of our property, and to make sure that we have active, ongoing programs to make our site wildlife friendly.”

In recent years, Gavin has placed bluebird boxes throughout its property, as well as wood duck boxes and bat boxes. The plant has built an osprey platform along the Ohio River, although as yet it hasn’t been successful in attracting a nesting pair.

“We practice rotational mowing on a portion of the property, which provides different heights of grasses to serve as cover for wild animals,” said Doug Workman, landfill supervisor at Gavin, who, along with Anderson, leads the plant’s wildlife habitat effort. “We plant wildlife feed plots, which provide a food supply for the wild turkey, rabbits, deer and other animals in the vicinity. And we’ve been very active in planting wildflowers, both on the plant grounds and at Addaville Elementary School.”

Tree planting has also been part of the overall effort to make the plant property attractive for wildlife. AEP’s Land Management group has coordinated the planting of 25 acres of trees - including both hardwoods and pines - at Gavin in the past few years. In addition, plant employees have given away thousands of tree seedlings at local schools and county fairs.

Initially, Anderson recalled, it was the 20-acre wetlands area at Gavin that earned national certification as a wildlife habitat. AEP built the wetlands to replace 13 acres of low-quality wetlands that had to be drained in order to construct part of the landfill needed for Gavin’s flue gas scrubber system, which removes sulfur dioxide from air emissions.

“The half-mile nature trail that was built through the wetlands area was designed so that it can be a self-guided tour, but we do give tours when requested, particularly for classes of schoolchildren, teachers’ workshops, and even business groups,” Workman said. “Recently, for example, we gave a tour for 50 members of the Ohio Mining and Reclamation Association.”

The wetlands area gives visitors a chance to see more than 75 different species of plants, including one on the state’s list of threatened species. In addition, some 30 different types of birds have been identified in the wetlands area, including red-tailed hawks, pileated woodpeckers, cedar waxwings, indigo buntings, and Baltimore orioles.

Now, the wildlife habitat distinction applies to the entire Gavin property, not just the wetlands, because of the variety of programs and enhancements that the plant has initiated. Workman said one of his favorite areas is around the old fly ash settling pond, which is home to several beavers and where a number of duck boxes have been placed.

“We’ve had some help from community groups in maintaining or improving the wildlife habitat - school groups or Scout groups, in particular. These types of activities provide merit badge opportunities for Scout members. Now we’re thinking about forming a committee here at the plant and seeing how many of our own employees would be interested in volunteering to help,” Anderson noted.

Workman added that the Wildlife Habitat Council, in its latest review, made a number of recommendations for future enhancements to the Gavin wildlife area. Among them are monitoring the bluebird nest boxes on a more regular basis; planting additional varieties of wildflowers, especially species that are native to Ohio; and moving the bat boxes to an area that receives more sunshine.

“One of the reasons why we appreciate this recognition from the council is because this program is purely voluntary, it’s not required by any agency,” Anderson said. “It’s just something that we like to do.”

American Electric Power is a multinational energy company based in Columbus, Ohio. AEP owns and operates more than 38,000 megawatts of generating capacity, making it America’s largest generator of electricity. The company is also a leading wholesale energy marketer and trader, ranking second in the U.S. in electricity volume with a growing presence in natural gas. AEP provides retail electricity to more than 7 million customers worldwide and has holdings in the U.S. and select international markets. Wholly owned subsidiaries are involved in power engineering and construction services, energy management and telecommunications.