2016 YEAR IN REVIEW
ONAPA Volunteer Appreciation Picnic
ONAPA hosted a volunteer appreciation picnic at Honey Run Highlands Park on Sunday, October 16th. More than 20 volunteers and 5 ONAPA Board members attended. There was excellent food, good conversations, games, and a hike through the prairie to Honey Run Falls. ONAPA has more than 70 active volunteers, many of which participate in our Stewardship Projects in cooperation with the ODNR Natural Areas Program. Several volunteers were recognized for their participation in the stewardship projects. ONAPA appreciates the cooperation with Knox County Park District to host the picnic at their park. The Park District manages Knox Woods, a dedicated state nature preserve, as a part of Wolf Run Park, on the east side of Mount Vernon.
Chaparral Prairie Stewardship Project
ONAPA held another stewardship project at Daughmer Savanna in Crawford County on June 18th in cooperation with Crawford County Park District. There were 12 ONAPA volunteers and 7 Park District volunteers who worked to pull or dig common teasel and Canada thistle in the savanna. This combined with the recent prescribed burns has helped the savanna to look spectacular this year, with many new prairie plants emerging! Volunteers got a tour of the savanna at the end of the day, including a walk back to the Council burr oak tree. The purple milkweeds were truly impressive.
Daughmer Prairie Savannah Stewardship Project
ONAPA held another stewardship project at Daughmer Savanna in Crawford County on June 18, 2016 in cooperation with Crawford County Park District. There were 12 ONAPA volunteers and 7 Park District volunteers who worked to pull or dig common teasel and Canada thistle in the savanna. This combined with the recent prescribed burns has helped the savanna to look spectacular this year, with many new prairie plants emerging! Volunteers got a tour of the savanna at the end of the day, including a walk back to the Council burr oak tree. The purple milkweeds were truly impressive.
ONAPA Sponsorships
- Ohio Botanical Symposium in March
- Midwest Native Plant Society Meeting in July
- 2016 Flora-Quest Event at Malabar Farm in August
- Cleveland Museum of Natural History’s 12th Annual Conservation Symposium in September
- ONAPA and The Cincinnati Wild Flower Preservation Society each donated $500 to ODNR for a botanical inventory of Travertine Fen State Nature Preserve.
Participating in the Following Events
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On the Banks of the Ohio River Earth Day 2016
The ONAPA exhibit attracted many visitors from southwest Ohio and the surrounding areas of the tristate. The weather was perfect, sunny and 80 degrees on April 16, 2016. Almost ten-thousand attendees enjoyed the music, great food and conservation displays at Earth Day 2016 in Cincinnati, Ohio. Many great regional contacts were made and again the ONAPA message on the importance of, ”Promoting, Protecting and Improving Ohio’s Natural Areas and Preserves” was well received and appreciated by the audience we drew to our exhibit. |
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Member Field Trips
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ONAPA Partners with OIPC on Small Grants Program
Early in 2015, we learned at the Ohio Invaive Plants Council’s (OIPC) Annual Meeting that OIPC has had an ongoing small grants program in place since 2013 to fund college students who conduct relevant research on invasive plants in Ohio. They have a great program in place with outreach to major Ohio colleges and universities, as well as an excellent grant proposal review panel composed of biology professors and land managers. However, OIPC has limited funds and could only allocate $1,000 each year for their grants program. ONAPA had the funding, but no program structure; OIPC had the program structure, but only enough funding for 1 or 2 projects annually. Invasive plants are a major threat to our nature preserves and are therefore a major focus for ONAPA
Accordingly, the presidents of both the ONAPA and OIPC boards discussed the possibility of joining forces to better address the problem of understanding and controlling invasive plants in Ohio. Both agreed it would be an excellent move. At the February 27, 2015 ONAPA Board Meeting, a motion was passed unanimously to approve using the $3,000 in the small grants program for this partnership with OIPC to sup-port research on invasive plants in 2015. Dr. Raymond Heithaus, Chair of the ONAPA Scientific Advisory Committee, is coordinating this new joint small grants program with Dr. Jean Burns from Case Western Reserve University, coordinator of OIPC’s small grants program. Proposals must be submitted to OIPC by November 1st. In addition to ONAPA, the Cincinnati Wildflower Preservation Society is contributing $1,000 to OIPC this year for the program, giving a total of $5,000 available to college students and others with important research projects on invasive plants. Interested parties can obtain more information on the OIPC website at www.oipc.info.
Early in 2015, we learned at the Ohio Invaive Plants Council’s (OIPC) Annual Meeting that OIPC has had an ongoing small grants program in place since 2013 to fund college students who conduct relevant research on invasive plants in Ohio. They have a great program in place with outreach to major Ohio colleges and universities, as well as an excellent grant proposal review panel composed of biology professors and land managers. However, OIPC has limited funds and could only allocate $1,000 each year for their grants program. ONAPA had the funding, but no program structure; OIPC had the program structure, but only enough funding for 1 or 2 projects annually. Invasive plants are a major threat to our nature preserves and are therefore a major focus for ONAPA
Accordingly, the presidents of both the ONAPA and OIPC boards discussed the possibility of joining forces to better address the problem of understanding and controlling invasive plants in Ohio. Both agreed it would be an excellent move. At the February 27, 2015 ONAPA Board Meeting, a motion was passed unanimously to approve using the $3,000 in the small grants program for this partnership with OIPC to sup-port research on invasive plants in 2015. Dr. Raymond Heithaus, Chair of the ONAPA Scientific Advisory Committee, is coordinating this new joint small grants program with Dr. Jean Burns from Case Western Reserve University, coordinator of OIPC’s small grants program. Proposals must be submitted to OIPC by November 1st. In addition to ONAPA, the Cincinnati Wildflower Preservation Society is contributing $1,000 to OIPC this year for the program, giving a total of $5,000 available to college students and others with important research projects on invasive plants. Interested parties can obtain more information on the OIPC website at www.oipc.info.
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Ohio State Fair Prairie Display In 2011, ONAPA Volunteers assumed responsibility for the year-around maintenance of the ODNR State Fair Prairie Display in order to free up Natural Areas staff. This prairie garden requires year-round maintenance to look its best during the state fair, and continues to be an on-going work project for ONAPA. If you are interested in helping, let us know. |
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Invasive plant specimens
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Volunteer Training We held two volunteer training sessions in 2016. The spring session was held on February 20, 2016 at the Stages Pond Nature center. Our fall session was held in conjunction with our annual banquet/meeting on September 17,2016 at the Cincinnati Nature Center. The agenda included an overview of ONAPA presented by Guy Denny, a DNAP overview presented by Jeff Johnson, and review of the stewardship project program by Jennifer Windus and Jan Kennedy. Volunteer forms and logistics was reviewed by Delores Cole. |
Volunteer Training at the Cincinnati Nature Center
Digging up Lesser celandine at Olsen Preserve.
Working on invasives at Gallagher Fen.
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Stewardship Projects
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Preserve Monitoring ONAPA volunteers visited 23 preserves and handed in 50 reports. |
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Member Trip
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Lakeside Daisy Preservation
ONAPA volunteers also partnered with other organizations. For the last three years, ONAPA volunteers have assisted the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service with monitoring populations of the federally threatened Eastern prairie fringed orchid in Ohio. During this same period, ONAPA volunteers also assisted the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service with efforts to establish new populations of the federally threatened Lakeside Daisy, moving plants and seeds from the active LaFarge Quarry on Marblehead Peninsula to abandoned quarries in the state park on Kelleys Island where they will receive permanent protection. |
Lakeside Daisy
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Annual Picnic
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Annual Meeting and Banquet