Fort Wayne Assembly

Introduction

Fort Wayne Assembly is in Roanoke, IN, and makes up 716 acres. This General Motors facility, opened in 1986, and builds full-size trucks, such as Chevrolet Silverado 1500 and GMC Sierra 1500. Employees at Fort Wayne Assembly build more than 1300 trucks each day, assisted by over 2,200 robots.
The conservation objective for the Wildlife Habitat - No Mow Area - Grassland project is to preserve biodiversity, maintain ecosystem functions, and ensure the resilience of the habitat.

The Avian project conservation objective is to preserve the targeted cavity-nesting bird species by providing suitable habitat and removing invasive species nests.

The St. Paul Catholic School - River Monitoring project conservation education objectives are to provide learners with the importance of river conservation to include a range of ecological, scientific, and civic concepts. The project aligns with the Stem Education Research Center.
The Great American Cleanup activities took place to engage the local volunteers to clean up trash at the facility site to enhance habitat.
The conservation education objective for the Education and Awareness - Formal Learning - New Tech Academy - Bird House Project is to raise awareness of local biodiversity and understanding of ecosystem dynamics, through the construction of bluebird boxes.

Practices and Impacts

• Monitoring a wildlife grassland habitat involves several steps to assess its health, biodiversity, and overall ecosystem dynamics. The Team defined goals. Given that previous years involved weekly monitoring during the avian nesting season, the Team maintains that schedule and determined success indicators, such as the number of bird species and the vegetation cover. Each week, at least one employee visited the habitat to monitor the avian bird boxes and bat box while also noting new vegetation. Observations were recorded weekly. After gathering sufficient data, the team analyzed it to decide the next steps, which included relocating the bird boxes due to inactivity or failure to attract the targeted species. The Team is committed to this monitoring program long-term, tracking changes and ensuring the grassland habitat's health. Our primary goal is to preserve this habitat for future generations.
• In 2024, the Team found multiple nests with eggs, but most were of non-targeted species. The nesting season resulted in 46 eggs, 45 hatchlings with 22 juveniles seen during monitoring. Half of the boxes are moved to a more open area. New bird boxes were added in 2018, totaling 11. At the end of September 2024, the Team received 5 new bird boxes from New Tech Academy high school with guards to protect from predators.
• Monitoring in 2024 shows 14 different plant species, half native and half not, and multiple avian species, most not native. Deer are in abundance throughout the facility. One turtle was observed.
• Students attend a classroom introduction where the Team explains the importance of river health, the objectives of the monitoring event, and what the students will be doing throughout the event. Students conduct tests on water samples, measuring pH, turbidity, dissolved oxygen, temperature, and toxins and learn how to use testing kits, and placing nets to collect macroinvertebrates from the riverbed, learning about their role in the ecosystem and how their presence indicates water quality.
• High school students learn habitat needs of different bird species for nesting, including cavity size, entrance hole dimensions, and interior space while constructing bluebird boxes.