Ohio Natural Areas & Preserves Association

Join us for an ONAPA Volunteer Appreciation Picnic
Sunday, October 28, 2018
1 p.m.- 5 p.m.
Gorman Nature Center
2295 Lexington Avenue
Mansfield, Ohio
ONAPA will provide several main dishes, drinks, & flatware Volunteers are encouraged to bring salads, side dishes, & desserts Picnic will include some outdoor & indoor activities.

Sign up to join us HERE.

Join the Ohio Invasive Plant Council for a Workshop Offered in Northwest Ohio

Invasive Plants in Your Backyard
Learn more about invasive plants, control techniques,
& alternatives for your landscaping & habitat
restoration needs.

Wednesday, October 17th, 10 a.m. -3 p..m.
W.W. Knight Nature Preserve
29530 White Road, Perrysburg, Ohio

Register at www.oipc.info

Kent Bog Stewardship Project

On Wednesday, September 19th, 6 ONAPA stewardship volunteers worked with 3 DNAP staff and approximately 20 Kent State University local flora students at Kent Bog SNP to remove invasive woody plants in the bog community. This included pulling invasive glossy buckthorn seedlings, as well as cutting and treating larger buckthorns and red maples invading the bog. While the bog is dominated by woody vegetation now, including highbush blueberry, tamarack, winterberry, leatherleaf, and other typical woody bog species, it is important to remove other invasives to maintain the native bog vegetation. A few small meadows remain with rare species, such as small cranberry and tawny cotton grass.

Myersville Fen Stewardship Project

ONAPA volunteers worked with preserve manager, Charlotte McCurdy on August 30th and September 13th to remove woody species in the northern fen meadow at Myersville Fen SNP, south of Akron. Glossy buckthorn and other woody species are taking over the fen meadows at the preserve. It is critical to cut and treat the woody stems, as well as haul the cut stems out of the meadow to allow more sunlight to reach the herbaceous fen plants. Working in the fen meadow in the recent hot, humid weather has been challenging, plus the volunteers are careful to avoid the poison sumac!

2018 Annual Member Meeting

ONAPA hosted its Annual Meeting at Owens Community College in Perrysburg on Saturday, August 18th. Approximately 75 people attended the morning and lunch session. There were 3 speakers in the morning and the lunch keynote: Guy Denny, Tim Schetter, and Greg Lipps (keynote). Guy spoke about the Oak Openings region, Tim spoke about the acquisition and restoration of Howard Marsh Metropark, and Greg spoke about conservation of reptiles and amphibians in northwest Ohio. They were all excellent presentations! The food was catered by Extra Virgin Food Services in Perrysburg and included morning pastries, sandwiches and wraps, salads, cookies, brownies, and beverages. After lunch, most people participated in one of 4 field trips to: Irwin Prairie SNP (led by Dick Moseley), Meilke Road Savanna WA and Girdham Road Dunes (led by Jennifer Windus and Tim Schetter), Wiregrass Lake MP (led by Karen Menard and Rick Nirschl), and Howard Marsh MP (led by Denis Franklin). It was a great day for celebrating the accomplishments of ONAPA and learning more about natural areas in northwest Ohio.

Habitat Heroes

NEW EVENT: HABITAT HEROES
On November 17th from 9:00 am – 12:00 pm, we will be removing invasive plant species (buckthorn) from the W.W. Knight Nature Preserve. These efforts are part of wildlife habitat restoration in conjunction with our Native Plant program.

BE A HERO!
SPONSORSHIPS ARE AVAILABLE.
Sponsorship letter | Sponsor benefits | Sponsorship agreement

REGISTER TO VOLUNTEER.

Sign-up to volunteer!

Volunteers receive a t-shirt, mug and lunch. There is an optional naturalist-led nature hike following lunch. We appreciate all of our habitat heroes and their dedication to being good stewards of our natural environment.

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Stewardship
Projects

We have several stewardship projects planned for 2017, some of which are again on weekdays this year. We will include a short field trip on each project to see some of the preserve we are working at. RSVP HERE.

Member
Field Trips

Preserve
Monitoring

The 2017 ONAPA member field trip schedule can be found HERE. Please remember to RSVP in advance so that we can plan accordingly. Not a member? Join HERE.

Any state nature preserve in your area can be visited and a report completed to help inform ONAPA and the preserve managers about the condition of the preserve. Click HERE for information.