Ohio Natural Areas & Preserves Association

Saturday, October 19, 2019
Woody Species Control at Brinkhaven Oak Barrens
10:00 am – 3:00 pm
Township Road 13, Brinkhaven (Gann)
Holmes County

Brinkhaven Oak Barrens was designated as a state natural landmark in 2005 for being the best example in north central Ohio of what famous Ohio ecologist, Paul Sears called “oak openings.” The 114-acre preserve owned by the private non-profit organization, Killbuck Watershed Land Trust, protects two oak barrens containing 6 state-listed plants, including the threatened thyme-leaved pinweed. ONAPA has been assisting the KWLT with habitat management to restore the two oak openings. We will work in the northern opening, as the southern opening has had significant clearing in the past two years, as well as a spring burn in April 2016. We will be cutting larger woody stems and treating the cut stems with herbicide. Trained DNAP staff and ONAPA volunteers will conduct the herbicide application.

Directions: From Brinkhaven (Gann) on U.S. Rt. 62, drive about 4 ¼ miles east on U.S. Route 62 to Holmes Co. Rd. 25. Drive about ¾ mile north to an intersection and

turn left (west) on to Township Road 13. Drive for about
1.2 miles and the parking lot will be on the right. The parking lot is about 500 feet beyond the old railroad overpass, on the right (it is hard to see as it is a grass parking lot with no signage).

What to bring: Bring lunch, water, hiking boots, gloves, and hand tools such as hand saws and loppers (if you wish). ONAPA and KWLT will provide tools and herbicide, and conduct herbicide application.

RSVP: If you would like to attend or have questions, please contact The Ohio Natural Areas and Preserves Association HERE.

Little Darby Creek is designated a state and national scenic river.

Thursday, October 24, 2019
Autumn Olive Control along the Little Darby Creek
10:00 am – 3:00 pm
1150 Taylor Blair Road, West Jefferson
Madison County

Join Scenic Rivers Program staff at the Forrest Property along Little Darby Creek. Volunteers will remove invasive autumn olive and keep it from smothering a prairie remnant patch that hosts rare species such as scaly blazing star (Liatris squarrosa).

Directions: This location is a neighboring property through which ODNR has an access easement to the Forrest Property. Pull past the property owner’s house and park in front of the barn or on the grass to the left. Please carpool if possible to limit the number of cars.

What to bring: Volunteers should wear sturdy hiking shoes and long sleeves and pants, bring plenty of water and lunch, and be prepared to hike two miles round trip to the work site. Note that this access requires crossing Little Darby Creek – muck / rain boots are advised!

RSVP: If you would like to attend or have questions, please contact The Ohio Natural Areas & Preserves Association HERE.

Thursday, October 31, 2019
Woody Species Control at Cranberry Bog State Nature Preserve
10:00 am – 3:00 pm
Buckeye Lake, Licking County

This is an added volunteer opportunity for this preserve. For a complete description of Cranberry Bog, see the September 25 description HERE. Activities will include cutting woody species, hauling cut stems to brush piles, and trained volunteers or DNAP staff will treat the cut stems with herbicides.

Directions: We will be meeting at the North Shore boat ramp at Buckeye Lake State Park at 10am to take a pontoon boat to the island. Take State Route 79 south from I-70, then follow SR 79 south until the curve where you enter the state park. Park in the large parking lot and look for the boat at one of the docks to take us to the island. Be sure to register if you wish to attend this project and more details will be provided in advance. We will need to know how many people are coming to arrange for sufficient boat transportation as the state park will be providing the boat.

What to bring: Bring lunch, water, gloves, and muck boots. Herbicide treatment will be done by DNAP staff or trained ONAPA volunteers. Tools will be provided.

RSVP: If you would like to attend or have questions, please contact The Ohio Natural Areas & Preserves Association HERE.

Before volunteer work

After volunteer work

Groups join forces to clear bog of invasives

On Wednesday, September 25, a brave and hard-working crew of 20 ventured over to Cranberry Island in Buckeye Lake to work on restoration of some of the bog meadows. This included 8 ONAPA volunteers, 5 DNAP staff, and 7 dedicated members of the Native Orchid Preservation & Education Society (NOPES) from Cincinnati.

The bog meadows have grown up in thickets of glossy buckthorn and poison sumac over several years due to lack of management. At the request of DNAP, ONAPA decided to take on another new stewardship project, knowing this one will be a significant amount of work for 3-4 years (see BEFORE photo).

Despite the warm weather, most volunteers wore Tyvek suits provided by DNAP and NOPES, to prevent or minimize exposure to poison sumac, which we cut and hauled. DNAP staff cleared the boardwalk so you could see it and walk it! The crew worked hard to remove woody species in one of the meadows along the boardwalk, cutting and treating the woody stems, then hauling the woody stems to an area at the edge of the island. A significant amount of work was accomplished and we have scheduled another workday for October 31 - so appropriate for Halloween!

New Lakeside daisy addition features premier alvar habitat ready for more

For the last ONAPA field trip of our season, Jennifer Windus and Guy Denny led a group of 24 people on a tour of the new addition to the Lakeside Daisy Preserve on Marblehead Peninsula on Tuesday, September 10. DNAP acquired 118 acres in May, using a US Fish & Wildlife Service (USFWS) grant, to add to the existing 19-acre preserve. The addition contains impressive glacial grooves and habitat for Lakeside daisy. While some daisies already occur on the property, ONAPA will be helping DNAP and USFWS to move plants and seeds from the active quarry to the new property. Field trip participants were able to see the glacial grooves and the southern portion of the property where more daisies will be transplanted. Despite the heat and humidity, it was a great day to see the new property along with glacial grooves, blooming ladies'-tresses, foxglove, stiff goldenrod, limestone savory, and spiked blazing-stars, to name just a few!

Volunteers remove woody species at Gallagher Fen in Clark County

On Saturday, September 7, 12 ONAPA and DNAP volunteers worked with preserve manager Michelle Comer at Gallagher Fen SNP in Clark County to remove woody species from the east fen and remove bush honeysuckle from the woods above the fen. The group accomplished a lot in the east fen as we continue to remove and stump treat invading woody species such as glossy buckthorn, privet, bush honeysuckle, dogwoods, and willows. It was a great day and we were happy to welcome three new volunteers, including a student from Wittenberg University.

Another fen gets help from ONAPA volunteers

On Wednesday, August 28, seven ONAPA volunteers and two DNAP staff worked together at the Headwaters section of Kiser Lake Fen to treat cattails and woody species.

We were happy to welcome Tim Snyder (ONAPA Board member and Stewardship team co-leader) back to our team as he had suffered a heart attack in May. He was glad to be back in the field with us, although he did fall in a hole in the fen while treating cattails!

We hand-wicked cattails selectively and cut and treated woody species in the fen meadow. The meadow is looking much better since last year.

7th Annual Meeting at the Goslin Nature Center gives attendees an up close look at Ohio's natural, often rare, treasures

The speakers were informative, the food was delicious and the weather held only a few raindrops for the afternoon field trips.

For more on this year's event, go to the 2019 Annual Meeting.

Spider search on the prairie leads to 21 arachnid species

On Saturday, August 24, Dr. Richard Bradley provided 24 ONAPA members with a fascinating look inside the world of Ohio spiders.

Not only did Dr. Bradley share his amazing wealth of knowledge about spiders with field trip participants, but he also provided them with a firsthand look of 21 different species from the large and colorful Black-and-yellow Garden Spider and Marbled Orbweaver, to some species so small they would normally go unnoticed.

Dr. Bradley demonstrated an extraordinary ability to locate spider webs and their occupants that would otherwise

appear nearly invisible to the casual observer. This was another in a series of ONAPA field trips that was fun and informative.

Volunteer Stewardship Project Reports

For the latest Stewardship Project Reports,
CLICK HERE.

Member Activities

For the latest Member Activity Reports,
CLICK HERE,

Stewardship
Projects

We have several stewardship projects planned for 2019, 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 2019 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.