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Tuesday, May 24, 2022
Garlic Mustard Control at Irwin Prairie 10:30 am – 3:30 pm 9987 West Bancroft Street, Holland Lucas County The core of this preserve is a treeless, wet sedge meadow dominated by several species of sedges, rushes and wetland grasses. It is the finest remaining sedge meadow in the state. The preserve is actually comprised of a mosaic of distinctive
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plant communities based on variations in water table levels. We will be working to pull garlic mustard in the swamp forest dominated by pin oak and cottonwood. The garlic mustard will be hauled out in plastic bags.
Directions: Meet at the parking lot located at on Bancroft Road, about five miles north of the Toledo airport.
What to bring: Bring lunch, work gloves, long-sleeved shirt and pants, hiking boots, a long-handled shovel, tick spray or repellent, and hand pruners.
RSVP: If you would like to attend, please REGISTER. If you have questions, please contact The Ohio Natural Areas and Preserves Association HERE.
Directions: Meet at the parking lot located at on Bancroft Road, about five miles north of the Toledo airport.
What to bring: Bring lunch, work gloves, long-sleeved shirt and pants, hiking boots, a long-handled shovel, tick spray or repellent, and hand pruners.
RSVP: If you would like to attend, please REGISTER. If you have questions, please contact The Ohio Natural Areas and Preserves Association HERE.
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Garlic mustard and Dame's rocket keep volunteers busy in preserves April into May
Spring stewardship projects continue to focus on garlic mustard, Dame's rocket, and butterweed. While garlic mustard populations have been down in some preserves, there is still plenty to pull, especially with Dame's rocket. On April 26, 13 people including four from DNAP, worked at Rhododendron Cove to pull garlic mustard.
On Thursday, April 28, six ONAPA volunteers worked at Clifton Gorge to remove garlic mustard and Dame's rocket. On Thursday, May 5, nine people including one from DNAP, pulled garlic mustard and Dame's rocket at Sheepskin Hollow Preserve in Columbiana County. All three projects had beautiful weather with awesome scenery and an abundance of spring wildflowers in bloom. |
We have been short on volunteers lately, most likely due to the price of gas, but we would love to have more participants. Come join us soon! |
Troy nature center featuring native plant sale and presentations on invasive plants June 11
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Brukner Nature Center will be having a native plant sale on June 11, 10 am-3 pm. The Ohio Invasive Plants Council (OIPC) will provide two presentations:
11:00 am - Good Plants Gone Bad: An Overview of Invasive Plants and Their Alternatives in Ohio, Jennifer Windus, OIPC president 1:00 pm - Landscape Legacies: Past, Present, and Future, Gary Conley, OIPC vice-president |
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Two tallgrass prairie field trips scheduled for July 23 and October 1
These “free to the public events" take place at Denny’s Tallgrass Prairie which is a 20-plus acre prairie located in Knox County about 45 minutes north of Columbus. The street address is 6021 Mt. Gilead Road (SR95) Fredericktown, Ohio. From the junction of Interstate 71 and State Route 95, follow SR95 east just under 5 miles to the Knox County Line Just about 20 feet beyond on the North side of SR95 is the driveway where there will be an ONAPA events sign directing participants up the drive to the designated parking area.
There is no limit on the number of participants, but we recommend participants sign up so that in case the events needs to be cancelled for any reason, we can let you know in advance. To register, email guydenny@centurylink.net. |
Prairie Tour - July 23, 10 am: ONAPA naturalists Dick Moseley, Jennifer Windus, and Guy Denny will give participants a Saturday walking tour around this reconstructed tallgrass prairie in Knox County. ONAPA members as well as prospective members are welcome to this free educational event. We will be discussing the origin of the tallgrass prairie of North America and specifically Ohio.
Participants will be introduced to the various native prairie grasses and wildflowers comprising this ecosystem. We will learn how to recognize these various prairie species as well as learn interesting facts about their uses by Native Americans and early settlers. Prairie Seed Collecting - October 1, 10 am: Here is your chance to try your hand at growing native prairie plants. Visitors to the free Saturday event may collect all the seeds they want from Denny’s Tallgrass Prairie and learn how to establish their own prairie gardens. Several prairie specialists will be on hand to answer questions and help identify various species of prairie plants. Participants should bring hand pruners, and containers such as paper bags in which they can deposit and label the seeds they collect. |
Four prescribed burns completed with partners in April despite wet weather
Several people from ONAPA participated in four prescribed burns this spring where ONAPA was the lead, in partnership with other agencies and private landowners. Jennifer Windus and John Watts were the certified prescribed fire managers on these four burns. It was a challenging April to conduct burns given the wet weather, but we managed to complete the burns, two the Knox County Park District and Cleveland Museum of Natural History, and two for private landowners on their small prairies. We burned three units at Wolf Run Regional Park in Mount Vernon for the park district.
Photos shown here are from the North Kingsville Sand Barrens in Ashtabula County, a preserve owned and managed by the Cleveland Museum of Natural History. This is a very significant sand barrens with many rare plants and insects. We burned about a third of the barrens and plan to burn more next year. We had great cooperation from the North Kingsville Fire Department as they helped to manage traffic along the road and the four trains that went by on the south boundary while we were burning! The preserve had not been burned in about 20 years, so the Museum hopes the fire rejuvenates the barrens which has a large wild lupine population.
Several people from ONAPA participated in four prescribed burns this spring where ONAPA was the lead, in partnership with other agencies and private landowners. Jennifer Windus and John Watts were the certified prescribed fire managers on these four burns. It was a challenging April to conduct burns given the wet weather, but we managed to complete the burns, two the Knox County Park District and Cleveland Museum of Natural History, and two for private landowners on their small prairies. We burned three units at Wolf Run Regional Park in Mount Vernon for the park district.
Photos shown here are from the North Kingsville Sand Barrens in Ashtabula County, a preserve owned and managed by the Cleveland Museum of Natural History. This is a very significant sand barrens with many rare plants and insects. We burned about a third of the barrens and plan to burn more next year. We had great cooperation from the North Kingsville Fire Department as they helped to manage traffic along the road and the four trains that went by on the south boundary while we were burning! The preserve had not been burned in about 20 years, so the Museum hopes the fire rejuvenates the barrens which has a large wild lupine population.
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Putty-root Orchid's winter leaf produces May bloom
By John Watts “Winter Orchids” were the topic of my winter newsletter article with a focus on the leaves of two woodland orchids. These species produce leaves that persist throughout the winter, begin to die back during the spring, and produce a flowering stalk later in the year. The first of these species to bloom is the Putty-root Orchid (Aplectrum hyemale). The Putty-root begins blooming in early May, and possibly earlier in the very southern portion of the state, and blooms into mid-June. A 12-15 inch green, smooth, leaf-less flowering stalk arises from the leaf litter producing a loose raceme of 8-15 flowers. The flower petals display a white to mostly greenish color on the petal with a purple tip. The sepals are very similar to the petals. The lip of the flower is 3-lobed and white with purple markings. This cryptic pattern allows it to blend into its surroundings in the rich, mesic forests and along floodplain terraces making it often difficult to locate. If you do spot a patch during the winter, it is important to visit them often during mid-spring as once they begin to bloom the perfect bloom of the flowers fully open only lasts a few days. Remember that while you may have found dozens of leaves during the winter, it is likely that you will only find a small percentage of the leaves producing this beautiful woodland blooming species. While small bees and other insects may pollinate Putty-roots, they are also capable of self- |
Putty-root Orchid, Clear Creek, Hocking County. Photo by John Watts
pollination. Their general lack of fragrance and nectar offers little reward to pollinating suitors.
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Winter work ends; spring projects arrive
In between rainy days, ONAPA finished the winter season with a stewardship project at Jackson Bog on March 29, clearing woody vegetation in the fen meadows and along the boardwalk. Twelve volunteers, including three new ones, worked with two DNAP staff to cut and treat invading woody shrubs, such as glossy buckthorn, common buckthorn, dogwoods, and alders. The first two spring projects were to remove garlic mustard at Miller Preserve (April 19) and Lake Katharine (April 21). A small group of volunteers worked with two DNAP staff at each preserve to remove garlic mustard, although there was much less present this year. |
Cedar Bog Visitor Center backdrop of work area
Clearing brush at Killbuck Marsh
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Cedar Bog and Killbuck Marsh 'opened'
So far, March has been a productive month and we have had six stewardship projects already.
On March 15, we had a large crew of 20 people working at Cedar Bog to open up meadows for massasauga habitat behind the Visitor Center. Ten ONAPA volunteers worked with DNAP staff, Cedar Bog folks, and research herpetologists to remove invading willows and dogwoods. On March 17, a crew of 8 ONAPA volunteers worked at Killbuck Marsh Wildlife Area at two different areas where Eastern prairie fringed orchids occur. We are hopeful this clearing will improve habitat for the orchids and we may see more blooming in July. 
Killbuck Marsh overview shows cleared area for more Prairie fringed orchid habitat. Photos by Jennifer Windus.
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Project pace picks up in March
After cancelling several projects in February due to the weather, we were back at work in early March. We now have two projects scheduled each week in an effort to reschedule projects that were cancelled. On Thursday, March 3, seven ONAPA volunteers worked with two DNAP staff on the barrier beach at Sheldon's Marsh removing encroaching woody vegetation such as white mulberry, dogwoods, cottonwoods, and willows. In this effort, we are trying to open up the small openings to encourage beach dune species such as beach grass, wormwood, and other rare beach plants.
On Tuesday, March 8, five ONAPA volunteers conducted hemlock woolly adelgid (HWA) surveys at Little Rocky Hollow with two DNAP staff. Fortunately, we did not find any HWA during our four-hour survey, looking closely at the undersides of hemlock branches. These surveys are important each winter to document any new infestations. On Thursday, March 10, five ONAPA volunteers, along with two DNAP staff and five volunteers from Beaver |
Creek Wetlands Association (BCWA), cut woody species at Zimmerman Prairie near Dayton. ONAPA continues to help BCWA and DNAP control woody species to maintain the small wet prairie meadow. BCWA has been doing a great job to restore this prairie, working on woody species and cattails, so this is an excellent partnership.
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Storms delay projects but finally progress against woody interlopers at Bonnett Pond Bog
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For two weeks in a row, ONAPA had to cancel scheduled projects at Bonnett Pond Bog and Herrick Fen due to winter storms in northeast Ohio. We were able to schedule a project at Prairie Road Fen on February 10 since there was less snow in western Ohio. Six ONAPA volunteers worked with five DNAP staff to clear woody species such as glossy buckthorn, common buckthorn, and dogwood in areas on the perimeter of the fen meadows. We rescheduled our Bonnett Pond Bog trip to February 16, and, fortunately, the ice on the pond was still frozen so we could access the bog meadow. A small group of seven, including three DNAP staff, cleared woody species on the edge of the sphagnum meadows to open the meadows more. This included removal and herbicide treatment of highbush blueberry and poison sumac. We stacked five large piles of brush on the perimeter of the pond.
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Bonnett Pond Bog - Photos by Jennifer Windus
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Frigid January weather does not deter stewardship project volunteers and assistants
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Despite some cold, blustery winter weather in January, we have continued our winter stewardship projects. On Tuesday, January 11, twelve ONAPA volunteers and stewardship assistants worked with Randy Carmel at Brinkhaven Barrens, a nature preserve owned and managed by the Killbuck Watershed Land Trust. We were
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cutting and treating woody species in the north barrens,
but it was cold enough to burn a brush pile so people could get warm when needed. On Thursday, January 20, a small ONAPA crew of six worked at Mallard Club Wildlife Area in Lucas County to remove brush in one of the Eastern prairie fringed orchid sites. We made great progress and hope it benefits the orchids this summer. On Tuesday, January 25, eight ONAPA volunteers worked with six DNAP staff at Gallagher Fen to remove woody species in the west fen area. We had planned to work at Cedar Bog, but the preserve manager preferred to postpone for a better weather day. We were fortunate to move the project to nearby Gallagher Fen as we had a beautiful, sunny but cold day there improving the fen meadows. Photos by Jennifer Windus |
Volunteer Stewardship Project Reports
For the latest Stewardship Project Reports,
CLICK HERE. |
Member Activities
For the latest Member Activity Reports,
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