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The Providence Journal / Mary Murphy Mary Murphy

SMITHFIELD — Over and over again John Muggeridge, general manager of Fidelity Investment’s scenic campus, insists that the walking trails, the butterfly garden, the grazing deer and the bluebird boxes do not get in the way of work. People work hard at Fidelity he says. Except . . . the day of the turkeys.

Two tom turkeys began fighting on the lawn just outside one of Fidelity’s two office buildings. Turkeys are very big birds. It was dramatic.

Finally, one turkey backed down. And the winner turned to the subject of the fight, a female turkey. Again, they were very big birds. They mated.

So OK, he conceded with a laugh, on that one occasion, people no doubt stopped what they were doing and watched. But overall, he said, Fidelity’s commitment to an environmentally friendly office park has been nothing but a plus for the company, its workers and the environment.

Fidelity last winter became the second company in Rhode Island to be recognized by the Wildlife Habitat Council, a national nonprofit, for conservation efforts. The council gave Fidelity a “Corporate Habitat Certification,” in recognition of the company’s efforts to manage wildlife habitat and provide educational programs on its grounds. More than 1,000 sites around the world have received the certification, but Fidelity is only the second one in Rhode Island.

In announcing the award, Robert Johnson, president of the Wildlife Habitat Council, said his group is working to provide landscapes that will remain sustainable for future generations. He credited Fidelity and its employees “for their exceptional efforts to responsibly manage our natural world.”

Muggeridge said there were two reasons for Fidelity’s success with conservation. First, he said, it fit Fidelity’s corporate culture.

As the company began developing its 500-acre corporate campus in 1995, Fidelity spared as many trees and meadows as possible. It built a parking garage to minimize the impact on the landscape, and fit the garage into a hillside with large trees overhead.

Instead of creating endless lawns and expanses of parking lots, Fidelity created a marsh to capture road runoff. It planted gardens and protected existing meadows.

Then came a call from Raytheon, another big corporate presence in Rhode Island. Raytheon’s Maritime Mission Center in Portsmouth was the first Rhode Island business to get the wildlife habitat certification. It was in 2001 and it was for the company’s efforts to manage 125 of its 175 acres as wildlife habitat.

Three years ago Raytheon invited a number of Rhode Island corporations to follow its path. Some 10 to 12 were interested, according to Edgar I. Ortiz, a senior systems engineer at Raytheon who heads the company’s wildlife program.

But one by one the businesses dropped away, according to Ortiz. Some didn’t have the land. One felt it was too expensive.

Fidelity was the only one that successfully met all the requirements and earned the wildlife accreditation. It had to help restore biodiversity on its site, protect local wildlife populations, encourage conservation beyond its borders and promote education and outreach among its employees.

Muggeridge said Robin Smith, Fidelity’s senior manager for public affairs in Rhode Island, led the local effort.

“It felt like a fit,” he said. “A lot of employees were excited. It was something they could work on during lunch breaks and other free time.”

Again, Muggeridge stressed the intensity of investment work and the benefits of surrounding the offices with wildlife.

“People here work hard,” he said. “When they get out of the building, there’s no reason they have to be assaulted by the landscape.”

About 30 people signed up for the “Wildlife at Work” program. They meet monthly. Sometimes they plan work projects. Sometimes they listen to speakers. They’ve worked with the Audubon Society of Rhode Island, the Rhode Island Wild Plant Society and Roger Williams Zoo.

“Part of our goal is to help make our employees relate to the community,” said Muggeridge.

In the last year, the employees have erected birdhouses in a meadow to attract bluebirds, whose numbers have declined as meadows disappeared throughout the region. Last year, they successfully fledged 13 bluebirds, 18 tree swallows and 6 house wrens.

Two years ago employees planted a flower garden designed to attract butterflies.

This year they erected several bat boxes, which are still awaiting inhabitants.

Fidelity has helped cut some six miles of trails through the forests and meadows that surround its buildings. Sitings of deer and turkeys are commonplace.

Just a few feet from the parking garage, Bob Mulkern, one of the Wildlife at Work volunteers, showed off the bluebird boxes. Bluebirds like the meadows, he said, because they like to eat insects.

“It turns out this is a great environment for bluebirds,” said Mulkern. “There are grasshoppers everywhere.”

He conceded a great fondness for helping to bring the birds back. “Once you become a bluebirder, you’re hooked.”

Smith agreed. She said she watched birds for 10 years before she saw her first bluebird. And now entire families live just outside her office.

Inside the building, reusable Wildlife at Work coffee mugs and water bottles are available to replace throwaway containers.

“None of this is a burden,” Muggeridge said, as he walked by a piece of art set among a pine grove. “It connects our people to the community. And to the firm.”

Smith said she loves walking the grounds, hoping for sitings of deer, foxes and coyotes. She looks forward to arriving at work in the morning, she said, because she never knows what wildlife she’ll see. And sometimes she returns at night with her husband and dog to walk.

Except for special events, the grounds at Fidelity and Raytheon are open only to employees and their guests. Ortiz said Raytheon has worked closely with local Boy Scout and Girl Scout troops on its trails.

Fidelity is now erecting its third office building on the property and it will be the biggest in Rhode Island. A staging area is needed for concrete and steel, but instead of cutting down more trees, contractors are using one of the open meadows.

The new building will comply with “green” building standards. And it is located at the back of the property, away from the bluebirds and butterflies and turkeys.

To learn more about the national habitat conservation program, go to www.wildlifehc.org which also has more information on the Fidelity program. You can learn more about Raytheon’s efforts by going to http://www.rewhc.org/

plord@projo.com