2025 SEPTEMBER-OCTOBER STEWARDSHIP PROJECT SCHEDULE
We have several stewardship projects planned for the spring. We will include a short field trip on each project to see some of the preserve where we are working. When registering to volunteer, please allow 48 hours prior to the project as weather may impact conditions and we make every effort to inform our volunteers of changes. Thank you!
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Questions: Contact us HERE.
Registration: Please let us know you are joining us and sign up using the 2025 SEPTEMBER-OCTOBER STEWARDSHIP PROJECT FORM. Volunteer Forms: If you are joining us for volunteer stewardship training or for one or more stewardship projects, please complete our Volunteer forms found HERE. Volunteer Hours: At the completion of a project, please enter your time (Including travel time to and from the site) HERE. |
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Thursday, September 11, 2025
Woody Species Removal at Gallagher Fen State Nature Preserve 10:30 am – 3:30 pm 4709 Old Columbus Rd, Springfield Clark County This high-quality spring-fed alkaline wetland is an exceptionally fine example of a prairie fen community in the state and protects at least 27 state-listed species. In addition to protecting the prairie fen ecosystem, a secondary management goal is to perpetuate the bur oak savanna-prairie community and to restore the oak woodlands-barren community on the uplands at this site. The goal of this project will be to work on removal of woody species in the eastern fen meadow. We will be cutting and treating the stumps of invasive woody species on the savanna hillsides. Directions: The grass parking area is located on the south side of Old Columbus Road between Bird Road and Redmond Road. |
What to bring: Bring lunch, water, and gloves. Herbicide treatment will be done by DNAP staff or trained ONAPA volunteers. Tools will be provided. RSVP: If you would like to attend, please REGISTER. If you have questions, please contact The Ohio Natural Areas and Preserves Association HERE. Online registration is important for our planning. |
Tuesday, September 16, 2025
Woody Species Control at Greenbelt State Nature Preserve, Great Parks of Hamilton County
10:30 am – 3:30 pm
Cincinnati, Hamilton County
Woody Species Control at Greenbelt State Nature Preserve, Great Parks of Hamilton County
10:30 am – 3:30 pm
Cincinnati, Hamilton County
Greenbelt State Nature Preserve is a mature hardwood forest -- the woods include several ravines that flow south towards Valleyview Drive and Winton Lake. The old-aged forest features mature oak-hickory-walnut-sugar maple trees with quality spring wildflower displays (including largeleaf waterleaf, Solomon’s seal, false Solomon’s seal, dwarf larkspur, bent or drooping trillium, toadshade or sessile trillium, dutchman’s breeches, etc.)
We will be cutting and treating bush honeysuckle, winged burning bush, privet, multiflora rose and invasive vines. Tools (loppers and hand saws) will be provided. Herbicide will be applied by trained ONAPA and Great Parks volunteers and staff. stewardship assistants.
Directions: See the map provided. Meet at Hawk Knoll Picnic Area and Parking Lot, Winton Woods.
From Finneytown, head north on Winton Rd. for 3 miles; turn left onto Valleyview Drive; drive west 0.6 mile to Hawk Knoll Picnic Area/Parking Lot.
From Forest Park / I-275: head south on Winton Rd. for 2.9 miles; turn right onto Valleyview Drive; drive west 0.6 mi to Hawk Knoll Picnic Area/Parking Lot.
What to bring: Bring lunch, water, gloves, and muck boots.
RSVP: If you would like to attend, please REGISTER. If you have questions, please contact The Ohio Natural Areas and Preserves Association HERE. Online registration is important for our planning.
We will be cutting and treating bush honeysuckle, winged burning bush, privet, multiflora rose and invasive vines. Tools (loppers and hand saws) will be provided. Herbicide will be applied by trained ONAPA and Great Parks volunteers and staff. stewardship assistants.
Directions: See the map provided. Meet at Hawk Knoll Picnic Area and Parking Lot, Winton Woods.
From Finneytown, head north on Winton Rd. for 3 miles; turn left onto Valleyview Drive; drive west 0.6 mile to Hawk Knoll Picnic Area/Parking Lot.
From Forest Park / I-275: head south on Winton Rd. for 2.9 miles; turn right onto Valleyview Drive; drive west 0.6 mi to Hawk Knoll Picnic Area/Parking Lot.
What to bring: Bring lunch, water, gloves, and muck boots.
RSVP: If you would like to attend, please REGISTER. If you have questions, please contact The Ohio Natural Areas and Preserves Association HERE. Online registration is important for our planning.
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Thursday, September 18, 2025
Woody Species Control at Wengerd Woods Preserve 10:30 am – 3:30 pm Directions will be sent to registrants Ashtabula County The 98-acre Wengerd Woods Preserve is part of the Cleveland Museum of Natural History's `1,600+ acre Geneva Swamp Preserve in Ashtabula County. This system is the last large tract of typical Lake Erie Lake Plain Swamp Forest within the Lake Erie Lake Plain from Cuyahoga County to the Pennsylvania line. This system is what formerly occurred in present day downtown Cleveland. We will be controlling invasive glossy buckthorn. Directions: The preserve is located on North County Line Road (141), north of SR 20, and southeast of North Madison. We will send registrants an exact location after you register on the website. |
Photo Courtesy of CMNH
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Tuesday, September 30, 2025
Woody Species Control at Kitty Todd Preserve 10:30 am – 3:30 pm 10420 Old State Line Road, Swanton Lucas County Ohio’s earliest European colonizers found the sandy soils of the Oak Openings Region to be unfit for growing crops, but it didn’t take botanists long to figure out that this ‘sand country’ was unparalleled in the state for the propagation of rare and wild plants. The 1,300-square-mile Oak Openings Region is a complex of oak savanna and wet prairie that developed on sand and clay deposited by glacial Lake Warren, the ancient predecessor of present-day Lake Erie. The combination of porous sandy soils of the former beach ridges and an impervious clay layer beneath those soils creates an unforgiving environment that fluctuates from flooding in the spring to arid in midsummer.
The Nature Conservancy’s 1,400-acre Kitty Todd Preserve is a centerpiece of the Oak Openings region and is a model of land management practices for the region. |
Photo by Ian Adams
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We will be assisting TNC staff in woody species removal and treatment.
Directions: We will meet at the TNC office at 10420 Old State Line Road, which is north of State
Route 2 near the intersection with Eber Road.
What to Bring: Bring lunch, water, hiking boots, and gloves. Herbicide treatment will be done by TNC staff or trained ONAPA stewardship assistants.
RSVP: If you would like to attend, please REGISTER. If you have questions, please contact The Ohio Natural Areas and Preserves Association HERE. Online registration is important for our planning.
Directions: We will meet at the TNC office at 10420 Old State Line Road, which is north of State
Route 2 near the intersection with Eber Road.
What to Bring: Bring lunch, water, hiking boots, and gloves. Herbicide treatment will be done by TNC staff or trained ONAPA stewardship assistants.
RSVP: If you would like to attend, please REGISTER. If you have questions, please contact The Ohio Natural Areas and Preserves Association HERE. Online registration is important for our planning.
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Tuesday, October 7, 2025-CANCELLED DUE TO WEATHER FORECAST Control of Woody Species at Myersville Fen State Nature Preserve 10:30 am – 3:30 pm Myersville Road, Green Summit County Myersville Fen is a small, 27-acre wetland area owned by the City of Green that contains two small fen meadows. It is one of only two fens in Ohio containing the naturally occurring, state-listed pitcher-plant (Sarracenia purpurea). Surrounded by a housing development and besieged by invasive plants from the residences, Myersville Fen is truly an island of unique plants under constant threat and in need of persistent stewardship. |
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We will be removing woody species such as glossy buckhorn, alders, and other invading woody species which are encroaching upon the north fen meadow. We will be cutting the stems and treating them with herbicide, as well as hauling the stems out of the meadows.
Directions: Two miles west of Interstate 77, take State Route 241 to State Route 619 west, then on to Myersville Road. From Myersville Road, you turn onto Crows Nest Circle, then left onto Fen Way Court and park at the end of the road.
What to bring: Bring lunch, water, gloves, and muck boots. Herbicide treatment will be done by DNAP staff or trained ONAPA stewardship assistants. Tools will be provided.
RSVP: If you would like to attend, please REGISTER. If you have questions, please contact The Ohio Natural Areas and Preserves Association HERE. Online registration is important for our planning.
Directions: Two miles west of Interstate 77, take State Route 241 to State Route 619 west, then on to Myersville Road. From Myersville Road, you turn onto Crows Nest Circle, then left onto Fen Way Court and park at the end of the road.
What to bring: Bring lunch, water, gloves, and muck boots. Herbicide treatment will be done by DNAP staff or trained ONAPA stewardship assistants. Tools will be provided.
RSVP: If you would like to attend, please REGISTER. If you have questions, please contact The Ohio Natural Areas and Preserves Association HERE. Online registration is important for our planning.
Photo courtesy of ODNR
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Thursday, October 9, 2025-CANCELLED BY DIVISION OF WILDLIFE Red Cedar Removal at Tranquility Wildlife Area 11:00 am – 3:30 pm County Road 100, Seaman (meeting location provided when you register) Adams County |
Tranquility Wildlife Area is a 4,490-acre state wildlife area located 16 miles south of Hillsboro. Acquisition of Tranquility Wildlife Area began in 1956 and continued through 2002. The property was acquired using multiple state and Federal funds. The wildlife area is a mixture of woodlands and prairie openings among the red cedars. We will be assisting wildlife area staff to remove red cedar in several prairie openings to benefit prairie species.
What to bring: hiking boots, gloves, lunch, and water.
RSVP: If you would like to attend, please REGISTER. If you have questions, please contact The Ohio Natural Areas and Preserves Association HERE. Online registration is important for our planning.
What to bring: hiking boots, gloves, lunch, and water.
RSVP: If you would like to attend, please REGISTER. If you have questions, please contact The Ohio Natural Areas and Preserves Association HERE. Online registration is important for our planning.
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Thursday, September 25, 2025, and
Thursday, October 16, 2025 Woody Species Control at Cranberry Bog State Nature Preserve 10:00 am – 3:00 pm Buckeye Lake, Licking County Now called Buckeye Lake, this lake was once a swamp that was to be converted into a reservoir to feed the Ohio and Erie Canal system. The plan did not work well because the new lake was too shallow to feed the canal for barge traffic, especially during the dry season. Strangely, it was the impoundment of the swamp in 1830 which made
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Cranberry Bog so unique. As the waters backed up behind the dike, all of the big swamp was inundated and destroyed, except the very youngest and therefore most buoyant segment of the bog mat. Instead of disappearing beneath the mucky waters, as did most of the adjacent swamp forest, a 50-acre upper segment of the bog mat along the north shore stretched and expanded like a giant water-logged sponge and rose 8 feet with the new water level. No longer did the floating bog mat surround the glacial lake as is typically the case with bogs. Now the lake surrounded the bog mat, the only known such occurrence of its kind in the world.
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. We will be working in the west meadow near the boardwalk to remove woody species.
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, please REGISTER. If you have questions, please contact The Ohio Natural Areas and Preserves Association HERE. Online registration is important for our planning.
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. We will be working in the west meadow near the boardwalk to remove woody species.
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, please REGISTER. If you have questions, please contact The Ohio Natural Areas and Preserves Association HERE. Online registration is important for our planning.
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Saturday, October 18, 2025
Control of Woody Species 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 six state-listed plants, including the threatened thyme-leaved pinweed. ONAPA has been assisting the KWLT with habitat management to restore the two oak openings which are accessible by permit only. 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 insect repellent. RSVP: If you would like to attend, please REGISTER. If you have questions, please contact The Ohio Natural Areas and Preserves Association HERE. Online registration is important for our planning. |
Tuesday, October 21, 2025
Woody Species Control at Meilke Road Savanna Wildlife Area
Woody Species Control at Meilke Road Savanna Wildlife Area
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10:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m.
Hill Avenue, Holland Lucas County Meilke Road Savanna was acquired by the Division of Wildlife (DOW) as oak savanna habitat specifically for Karner blue butterflies and other rare butterflies in the Oak Openings. While it is a small wildlife area, only 22 acres in size, it has tremendous plant and animal diversity. The Division also has a management agreement with Spencer Township for another 15 acres of oak savanna adjacent to the wildlife area. Regular management including prescribed burning and woody species removal is necessary to maintain the open oak savanna and barrens habitat. In the spring, large populations of wild lupine, the only host plant for the Federal threatened Karner blue butterfly, once known to be abundant in the Oak Openings, bloom. For this stewardship project, we will cutting and treating woody sprouts in the savanna to maintain open habitat necessary for rare plants and butterflies. Directions: Located on the north side of Hill Avenue, west of Crissey Road, and east of Meilke Road in Holland, just west of Toledo; parking is located in a small pull-off on Hill |
Avenue. Hill Avenue can be accessed from Crissey Road.
What to bring: Bring lunch, water, hiking boots, gloves, and hand tools such as hand saws and loppers (if you wish). ONAPA will also provide loppers. Herbicide application will be done by DOW staff and trained ONAPA volunteers. RSVP: If you would like to attend, please REGISTER. If you have questions, please contact The Ohio Natural Areas and Preserves Association HERE. Online registration is important for our planning. |
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Thursday, October 23, 2025 - SUBSTITUTE PROJECT
Red Cedar Removal at Kelley's Island State Park Time and directions will be emailed to you if you sign-up via CONTACT US before October 23. DNAP asked for assistance with this project, requesting that the Erie Sand Barrens project be rescheduled. We will be taking the ferry and participants will be responsible for ferry fees. We will be hauling cut red cedars short distances to open areas for Lakeside daisy habitat. Again, please sign up with your name and contact information using the CONTACT US email link. |
Lakeside daisies (Photo by Guy Denny)
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Thursday, October 23, 2025 - POSTPONED - WILL BE RESCHEDULED IN NOVEMBER OR DECEMBER
Woody Species Removal at Erie Sand Barrens State Nature Preserve 10:30 am – 3:30 pm Taylor Rd, Sandusky Erie County Erie Sand Barrens is situated in the sandy beach ridges of glacial Lake Warren, a predecessor to modern Lake Erie. Because of past intensive agricultural activities, the flora of this preserve is not very diverse. Nevertheless, many state-listed species still remain. The sandy soil of the preserve is well-drained and plants which survive here are adapted to its dry conditions. On the highest, driest ridges and knolls, prairie plants including green milkweed, partridge-pea and sand panic grass thrive. Wet depressions between the rises hold wet sedge meadow communities where plants more commonly found along the Atlantic and Gulf coasts occur. These include lance-leaved violet, Virginia meadow-beauty, twisted yellow-eyed grass and least St. John's-wort. We will removing woody species in the barren areas of the preserve where rare plants occur such as the Virginia meadow-beauty, lance-leaved violet, and twisted yellow-eyed grass. DNAP staff or trained ONAPA stewardship assistants will conduct herbicide application to the cut stems. |
Directions: Located in Erie County, the preserve is easily accessed from SR 4. Proceed east on Mason Road, and take Taylor Road to the left. The preserve is located on the right side of the road with a small parking lot and sign.
What to bring: Lunch, water, hiking boots, and gloves. RSVP: If you would like to attend, please REGISTER. If you have questions, please contact The Ohio Natural Areas and Preserves Association HERE. Online registration is important for our planning. |