BUTTE — Butte's annual Christmas Stroll is full of fun activities, and this year NorthWestern Energy is celebrating the stroll with a children’s book giveaway.
NorthWestern Energy employee and author Erin Madison will be giving out free copies and signing her newly released children’s book that takes readers on a journey of conservation and history as it relates to a fictional osprey.
"We have a really robust environmental program at NorthWestern Energy and one piece of that is our avian protection program. Ospreys are really common around here and they really like to build nests on power poles, but we don’t want them to build on power poles because it can lead to outages and even nests catching on fire or birds being electrocuted. And obviously, we want to avoid all that," says Madison, author and illustrator of "Oliver the Osprey".
Madison says her book can help promote public awareness about the bird of prey that can help NorthWestern Energy keep birds safe while also protecting power lines.
In 1972, ospreys nearly disappeared from some areas before DDT was banned in the United States that year. Madison's book details this historical fact and details the bird of prey's strong comeback, but the book advises young readers that the population still faces new threats.
"Oliver the Osprey" shows readers how platforms provide a safe nesting place for the migratory birds to lay and hatch their eggs, and young readers can learn how they can help protect ospreys by properly disposing of baling twine.
NorthWestern Energy invites you to pick up your free copy of the "Oliver the Osprey" at the NorthWestern Energy General Office, 11 E. Park Street, from 5 to 8 p.m. on Friday, Dec. 6, during the Uptown Butte Christmas Stroll.
