Ohio Natural Areas & Preserves Association

Stewardship projects in November prove to be productive in several preserves

November has been busy with stewardship projects despite the cooler weather. On November 4, we worked at the Medway prairie fringed orchid site with 14 people, including eight from DNAP. We cleared plenty of woody species in the orchid areas and plan to work more this winter.

On November 9, six of us from ONAPA cleared more poison sumac and glossy buckthorn at Cranberry Bog, continuing to open up the bog meadows.

Mid-November, we concentrated on Lakeside daisy areas. On November 10, we cut red cedars at Kelleys Island State Park while dispersing some daisy seeds. Then on November 18, 10 people from ONAPA, DNAP, and USFWS cleared more red cedars in Lakeside daisy habitat at the new portion of the state nature preserve in Marblehead.

On November 16, 14 people including ONAPA volunteers, DNAP staff, and Summit County Metro Parks staff worked

together at Karlo Fen to remove woody species in the fen meadow.

It has been a productive month so far, and we have one more project coming up at Springville Marsh on November 30.

CONTACT US if you wish to help. We will have a few projects in December, then winter projects will start weekly in January.

Misty day does not dampen enthusiasm for Blackhand Gorge SNP field trip

Eleven ONAPA members joined Dick Moseley for an easy interpretive hike through Blackhand Gorge Nature Preserve on October 9. The morning was misty and wet, but beautiful with falling leaves of various shapes covering the trail. Moseley discussed the history of the purchase of the preserve and its significance geologically. He reviewed how the construction of Dillon Reservoir made major changes to the town of Toboso which was originally located where the entrance of the preserve is now.

The group toured the narrow gorge cut by the Licking River through the famous Black Hand sandstone formation. In addition to seeing fall wildflowers and glacial relic plants, members enjoyed their visit to see the remnants of the Ohio Erie Canal tow paths and canal Lock 16, as well as the Interurban railway tunnel and the “Deep Cut” through the Black Hand Sandstone.

After the tour ended, Jennifer Windus took some of the members to the top of “council rock” where they enjoyed a spectacular view of the Licking River narrows. If you have not visited this beautiful and historic preserve you should add this to your “to do” list.
(Photo by Jennifer Windus)

Late fall color: the American beech saves the best for last

By John Watts

Scattered commonly throughout Ohio’s woodlands, the American Beech tree is one of my favorite trees. The smooth gray bark stands out in almost any woodland, especially in late winter and early spring, with the trees often forming small groves of large scattered older trees. Naturalist Donald Culross Peattie in his book A Natural History of North American Trees wrote:

“As settlers moved west for greater opportunities, beech became a symbol of fertile soil, and pioneers across Ohio and Indiana set up farms alongside the range of beech. A beech is, in almost any landscape where it appears, the finest tree to be seen”.

Photos by John Watts

During late October and early November when Autumn’s fall display begins to fade, the beech lights up the woods for one final colorful act before winter. The leaves initially turn a pale yellow with green highlighting the veins. As fall progresses and November arrives, they turn a golden-brown color retaining yellow or light green on the veins for at least a couple of weeks. By mid-November many of the leaves have turned golden-brown and are still crisp before advancing to a light tan color as they persist on especially younger trees throughout the winter.

The accompanying photos were captured November 8, 2013 at Blacklick Woods Metro Park in the Edward S. Thomas State Nature Preserve east of Columbus, Ohio. I encourage all to take advantage of late fall to observe the last of our fall color, a late flying Clouded Sulphur butterfly, or maybe your first Dark-eyed Junco reminding us that winter is on its way.

Day at Brinkhaven Barrens results in significant clearing of woody species

On Saturday, October 23, 12 ONAPA volunteers worked with Randy Carmel, President of the Killbuck Watershed Land Trust, at Brinkhaven Barrens State Nature Preserve in Holmes County. It was a beautiful day and the group accomplished a significant amount of clearing in the north barrens, removing sumac, hazelnut, hawthorn, and dogwood. Even a few maple trees were cut down by our stewardship assistant, Lydia to open up one of the edges of the barrens. This is a great partnership between ONAPA and the NE Ohio land trust.

Cedar Bog October workday draws a crowd

One of our recent stewardship projects in October was to work at Cedar Bog on October 19. With a large group of 16 people, including two new volunteers, four staff from MAD Scientist Associates, and seven regular ONAPA volunteers, we broke into two groups. A group of five worked in the snake corridor again, removing woody species for massasauga habitat. The second group worked in the fen meadows removing woody species such as white cedar, tulip tree, dogwood, and spicebush. While these are native species, they should not be in the fen meadows as they provide too much shade for the fen plants. We made significant progress and hope to do more this winter.

Meilke Road Savanna WA project removed woody stems and added monarch host plants

The final stewardship project for September was at Meilke Road Savanna Wildlife Area in the Oak Openings on September 30. While we had a small group of six people, plenty of woody stems were removed and treated in the "bowl area" where lupines, puccoons, and other rare plants occur. We were also able to collect and spread butterflyweed seeds on one of the recently disturbed dune areas at the edge of the "bowl". This disturbance work was done by Division of Wildlife staff to improve habitat for sand barrens species and it is recovering well.

A bounty of seeds were collected in the prairie on a perfect autumn day for the task

Armed with snippers, paper bags and markers, some 30 prairie lovers spread out over 20 acres, harvesting dried seeds from the tall grass prairie October 2.

Backed by the table full of samples, ONAPA president Guy Denny gave a brief overview of seeds available in the prairie he established over many years before sending the collectors into the field. ONAPA stewardship assistants Maddie and Lydia manned the displays. ONAPA board member Dick Moseley and other ONAPA volunteers helped with plant identification in the field.

Natives in Harmony's Gail Martin from nearby Marengo made sure there was a large selection of plants for those of us who wanted to have a back up plan for our seed collections.

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 2020, 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 2020 ONAPA member field trip schedule has been put on hold due to the pandemic. Watch the website and Facebook page for updates.

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.