The Spotted Turtle - Beaver Creek Wetlands Association

Beaver Creek Wetlands Association
The Spotted Turtle
Volume 24, No. 1
Winter 2009-2010
Member’s bequest helps grow
BCWA endowment
A generous bequest of $23,000 is helping to grow the Beaver Creek Wetlands Association Endowment Fund.
The fund, only two years old, has now
grown to over $80,000, an auspicious
start in challenging economic times.
The BCWA Endowment Fund,
established in partnership with The
Dayton Foundation, is a permanent
nest egg to help us be good stewards
of the wetlands as well as good stewards of our donors’ gifts. Income from
the fund is currently being reinvested
for continued growth. Our plan is to
grow the fund until it can become a
self-sustaining source of income to
support maintenance of the BCWA.
Invasive species are seen as the
greatest threat, and control of invasive
species is expected to become one of
the most costly future maintenance
needs. A healthy endowment will help
maintain healthy wetlands.
The recent bequest from a loyal
and long-term BCWA member was left
in the form of a life annuity, an investment that can provide income for life,
after which the remaining principal of
the annuity becomes a charitable donation. For information on a variety of
planned giving options, you may call
or write to us for more information,
or contact The Dayton Foundation
directly.
2010 Events
Spring
Soul of the Woods film, February 21
Birdathon, April 30 5pm – May 1 5pm
BCWA Annual Meeting, May 18
Knollwood Garden Party, April 17
Summer
Greene County Fair, August 1-7
Fairborn Sweet Corn Festival, August
Beavercreek Popcorn Festival,
September 11 & 12
Autumn
Combined Federal Campaign Kickoff,
October TBA
In this Issue
President’s Message.....................2
Upcoming Events.........................3
Shaw 5th Graders.........................4
Winter Observations....................6
Science Corner.............................7
2009 Volunteers............................8
Footprints...................................10
Trustee Nominations..................11
www.beavercreekwetlands.org
Siebenthaler Fen in winter still attracts many visitors, human and otherwise.
Photo by Richard Swigart
Richard Swigart
President’s Message
Conservation as
a Way of Life
“There are some people who do
more than live on the land. There
are some who shape it, mold it to
conform to some ideal in their minds.
This ideal can be a perfectly clipped
greensward with trimmed shrubs and
cement edgings, devoid of all but the
occasional June bug or robin, or it
can be a riotous patchwork of water
and weed, spicebush and chinquapin,
aflutter with insects and ringing with
the call of Canada geese and common yellowthroats. Ora Anderson
preferred woodcocks to lawnmowers.
He liked water and marsh; he liked
edges and coves and small private
nooks; he liked vistas and forests and
the smell of sassafras leaves. And
what he liked, he created. He was an
artist of habitats, a planter of trees, a
maker of places for the winged and
scaled, the jointed and furred.”
So states Julie Zickefoose in the
forward to a new book of essays and
poems that accompanies a new video
featuring Ora on his beloved farm
in Athens County, Ohio. This video,
The Soul of the Woods, is really a
conversation about conservation
in Ohio over the past 50 years as
Ora participated in and pushed for
a healthier natural habitat. Created
from previously unused video filmed
prior to Ora’s death in 2006, The
Spotted Turtle Name and
Logo: Noted area wildlife artist Charley
Harper generously donated the art for our
logo in 1988. His work has been adopted
by the National Park Service and is appreciated worldwide. Our newsletter recognizes the Spotted Turtle as an icon for the
many rare animals and plants protected in
the Beaver Creek Wetlands.
Submissions, Questions, or
Comments: We rely on members like
you to make this newsletter the product of
2
Soul of the Woods will encourage and
delight you with its message, its art,
and its original music.
For many, life growing up as a
“city kid” in Columbus, Ohio might
inhibit much awareness of the natural
world. But for myself such a lack of
awareness was impossible. I had the
advantage of having Ora Anderson as
my father.
Many of you heard him speak at
one of our annual meetings a number
of years ago. And then in 2007 you
viewed the award winning documentary video, A Forest Returns, in which
Ora narrated the story of Ohio’s only
National Forest, the Wayne National
Forest. Dad passed away in August of
2006 at the age of 94 but his passion
for conservation and the beauty of our
natural world lives on in the form of
a book of his essays on nature, Out of
the Woods: A Bird Watcher’s Year,
published in 2007.
Now I’d like to personally invite
you to the first local screening of this
new film, The Soul of the Woods,
on Sunday, Feb. 21st at 2:00 pm
at Peace Lutheran Church, 3530
Dayton-Xenia Rd. in Beavercreek.
We’ll serve refreshments and you’ll
get to hear and speak with filmmaker
Jean Andrews. Proceeds from The
Soul of the Woods will benefit the
Ora Anderson Conservation Fund.
Mark your calendar and come
have a conversation about conservation! And meanwhile you can visit
the filmmakers’ website at www.
ohiolandscape.org to learn more.
several diverse voices. If you have an idea
for an article or a picture to include, please
send them to admin@beavercreekwetland
s.org. Also, we welcome any comments or
questions. For submissions, questions, or
comments, please include “newsletter” in
the subject line of your e-mail. We reserve
the right to edit for content or clarity.
don’t hesitate to call the Beaver Creek
Wetlands Association at (937) 320-9042.
Donations of Land/Easements:
If you are interested in donating land,
placing an easement on property, or remembering the BCWA in your will, please
Spotted Turtle—Winter 2009-10
Susie Scott
BCWA President
BCWA Annual Report: Copies are
available by request. E-mail the office at
[email protected] or call
(937) 320-9042.
Founded in 1988, the Mission of the
Beaver Creek Wetlands Association
is to protect the wetland ecosystem
in the Beaver Creek watershed
through partnerships, community
networks, and public education.
Local Nature Film Premiere
BCWA invites you to attend a special
showing of the new video, The Soul
of the Woods, featuring Ora Anderson.
The half-hour film will be shown
Sunday, Feb. 21st at 2:00 pm at Peace
Lutheran Church, 3530 Dayton-Xenia
Rd. in Beavercreek. Refreshments will
be served. Filmmaker Jean Andrews
will be present to introduce the film,
answer questions and discuss the
importance of practicing an active
conservation ethic. The film literally
paints pictures of conservation and
nature through original art and music. Noted Ohio conservationist Ora
Anderson serves as the narrator, and
From Pete Bales, CPRP, Parks and Recreation Superintendent,
City of Fairborn:
“
ER
D
On Tuesday, May 18, look forward
to an engaging speaker at the BCWA
Annual Meeting. Jim McCormac is
president of the Ohio Ornithological
Society, and served for seven years
as secretary of the Ohio Bird Records
Committee. He authored Birds of Ohio
(Lone Pine 2004); Wild Ohio: The
Best of Our Natural Heritage (Kent
State University Press 2009); and
The Great Lakes Nature Guide (Lone
Pine 2009). He has written a column
entitled “Biodiversity” for the Columbus Dispatch since 2005. Jim was the
2009 recipient of the Ludlow Griscom
award, given annually by the American Birding Association to individuals
who have made significant regional
contributions to ornithology. In his
“real” job, Jim works for the Ohio
Division of Wildlife, specializing in
birds, education, and wildlife diversity
issues. Prior to that, he was a botanist
with the Ohio Department of Natural
Resources’ Division of Natural Areas.
Ohio’s Largest
Honeysuckle Removal
IN
EM
Annual meeting speaker:
Jim McCormac
R
Upcoming Events
Ohio’s Largest Honeysuckle Removal Project is being
planned for April 2010. I need your help. The area that is being
targeted for removal is along the Beaver Creek corridor at
Community Park on the area that borders the Meadowlands
neighborhood and Cemex Reserve. I would like to break last
year’s record for volunteers of 160 people.
”
Contact Pete for details at [email protected] and watch
for notices of meeting times on www.beavercreekwetlands.org.
Jim says he is “ Really looking
forward to this program” and wants to
talk about “Fabulous Fens: Wetlands
Extraordinaire!”
Fens are perhaps the most interesting type of wetland in Ohio, since
these cold water systems support an
astonishing array of life. The richest
plant diversity in the state occurs in
fens, and some of this flora is among
the rarest of the rare. The animal life
is incredible as well—everything from
tiny elfin skimmers to outrageously
speckled spotted turtles. This program
will be a pictorial romp through the
flora and fauna of fens, with an underlying message of the importance of
conserving one of our rarest habitats.
his writings are featured in
an illustrated booklet accompanying the DVD. Proceeds
from The Soul of the Woods
will benefit the Ora Anderson
Conservation Fund.
Come celebrate our natural
heritage with this inspirational
film. Please set aside Feb. 21st
to have some popcorn, watch
the film and get to know your
fellow members of the Beaver
Creek Wetlands Association.
To learn about the film,
visit www.ohiolandscape.org.
See this newsletter in full color online at www.beavercreekwetlands.org
3
All photos by Mrs. Heinkel or Mr. Stewart
Wetland Classroom for
Shaw Elementary 5th Graders
Contributed by
Christina Simmons
L-R: Eli, Michael, Christian (red shirt), Mrs. Simmons, Tyler, Lance,
Tyler (orange shirt)
Michael shows tadpoles found along the
boardwalk
Kelsey, Jordyn, Jacey, Drew and Angelo
using dip net to find small aquatic animals.
Mr Zimmerman is answering questions
4
Mrs. Simmons’s and Mrs. Heinkel’s Fifth grade classes had been
learning about the diversity and interdependence of life. Our standards
included summarizing that organisms can survive only in ecosystems
in which their needs can be met and to understand that the world has
different ecosystems and those distinct ecosystems support the lives
of different types of organisms. We learned how to classify different
organisms by their characteristics, used dichotomous keys to identify
trees, studied food chains and food webs then decided to visit our local
wetlands for a hands-on experience in an ecosystem that met the needs
of the variety of organisms we studied.
The wetlands also provided an opportunity to see first-hand how all
organisms, including humans, cause changes in their ecosystems and
how these changes can be beneficial, neutral or detrimental. We had
read how beaver dams could cause changes in ecosystems and were
able to view a textbook photo. As we sloshed through the parts of the
boardwalk that were underwater as a result of the beaver dams, it was
an excellent hands-on experience proving what we had read about in
our science text. Definitely more impressive than looking at a textbook
photo. Visiting the wetlands made what we had read in our science text
come to life.
After our visit to the wetlands, we stopped for lunch at the Narrows
where our classes took a hike to the woods and were introduced to several literature books that had the wetlands or outdoor exploration theme.
Helpers included many parents and Mr. Mike Zimmerman a BCWA
Trustee who works at Ohio EPA.
Spotted Turtle—Winter 2009-10
Shaw’s Fifth graders truly enjoyed their experience at the Beavercreek
Wetlands. They highly recommend that others visit. Here are some
reasons why:
I loved going to the wetlands. As soon as I got there, all I could
say was “wow!” And “awesome!” The wetlands were beautiful. I
know some kids think it would be boring and I am not going to lie,
I thought it would be boring too. But, I was wrong. The wetlands
teach you that it is not only saving the animals by protecting it, but
us humans too. At the wetlands you can see animals’ homes and
their tracks. My group and I even saw beaver chew on a tree! Even
though we didn’t see the beaver do it, it was really fun looking
at it and predicting how it chewed the tree. The wetlands are so
open. I hear animals all over. I could smell the water too. I got a
little wet there. Some animals that I have heard there, I never even
knew about! Everybody could learn a lesson when they go to the
wetlands. When I looked from the top of a high platform, I felt like
I was really lucky to be there, to see those wonderful things, and to
witness fun, and nature. You can play games and laugh, and search
at the wetlands. What’s there not to like? I promise, if you go to the
wetlands, you will enjoy it as much as I did!
—Destiny
Mr Zimmerman helps Shaw 5th graders
find wetland animals.
To me the wetlands are amazing. If you go to the wetlands, you
can see many creatures and animals such as, tadpoles, frogs,
snakes, beaver dams, animal tracks, and much more! Wetlands
are very helpful, wetlands are nature’s water filters and great
animal habitats. If you go to the wetlands, you would see
many plants and water. As you would walk on the boardwalk
at the wetlands you can see many different insects. If you see
someone that loves to explore, I highly encourage you to go
visit the Beavercreek Wetlands.
—Michael
I really recommend people to go to the wetlands. When I first
went to the wetlands, it was amazing!!! I saw caterpillar and a
slug the first time in my life!! It was fresh air, but it was winter
there wasn’t as much animals. I saw a snake, tadpole, frogs and
fish. But all you workers out there PLEASE DO NOT DESTROY
ANIMAL HABITAT!!! That’s their only home they have. What if
someone destroyed your habitat, your home? You would feel
angry and sad. That’s how animals feel when you destroy their
habitat. So I recommend you to go to the wetland because it’s
awesome!!!
—Titus
Photos by Mrs. Heinkel and parent chaperone Mr. Stewart
Nate, Brian, Daniel, a couple others and a parent
volunteer dip for wetland creatures.
See this newsletter in full color online at www.beavercreekwetlands.org
5
Winter observations
A
tabolism. This slow living insures that
they do not expend the energy gathered from the sun that is now in sugars
and similar compounds. I marvel at the
twisted purplish miniature plant I can
dig out of the ice when I am looking for the Square Stemmed Monkey
Flower, Mimulus ringens. It is almost
in a knot, hunched, only a centimeter
or so under the surface and encased
in solid ice. If that was one of us we
would be goners. Not so for Mimulus
ringens. In spring it will explode out
of the ground as soon as the longer
days of spring and warmer temperature trigger its reliable alarm clock.
The beaver are busy in winter, too.
They have, during the fall, put aside
green twigs under the ice in those
deeper pools of Beaver Creek. Watch
for them on warmer days swimming to
and fro patching their dam and nibbling on those stored morsels. Many
birds have left but many others have
come to replace them. The variety of
ducks increases in winter and I occasionally find a flock of bluebirds
scratching in the snow for a few tidbits
to eat. By February, the slowly lengthening days will have made the Skunk
cabbage awake and by month’s end
you will see it beginning to bloom.
Another oft-recognized sign of life is
the oily scum that forms on the water,
too often mistaken for the work of
some mindless polluter - but no, its
the natural release of oils from plants
and animals that have died and been
recycled by bacteria. Those oils are
hard to digest in the oxygen-less soils
of the wetland and are the last to go.
But, go they will, because as they float
to the surface the rich oxygen there
will help bacteria complete their job.
Ah yes, then they will be eaten by
protozoa and protozoa will be grazed
by tiny aquatic invertebrates, who will
be eaten by yet larger ones and maybe
even fish and then the fish are eaten,
too. I wonder, do you know—who eats
the fish? It would really be fun to find
out—wouldn’t it!
—Jim Amon
Richard Swigart
s I look out the door onto my
backyard and into the woods
the absence of green casts a
silent numbness over the landscape.
It is funny how we crave the green.
Green is good, live green, the grass is
greener on the other side, green with
envy.... The green comes from chlorophyll, a special chemical located in
plants. Chlorophyll is sensitive to light
and when sunlight hits it, the energy of
that light is converted into an energy
that does important work. That work
in plants is at the very beginning of the
food chain and in our deepest psyche
we understand that that is good.
Winter seems to be the antithesis
of that comforting greenness. That
idea needs to be changed. Under the
ice and occasional snow there is still
much activity. Wetland plants we
usually see in our fens are perennials
and they are certainly not dead. Their
juices protect them from ice crystals
that would otherwise rip them to
shreds and they stay just below the
surface, probably in a very slow me-
Speakers Available
Do you need a program for your organization, church,
neighborhood association or other group? Education
is one of the Beaver Creek Wetlands Association’s
main missions, and we’d be glad to raise public
awareness of the many reasons why wetlands are
important to our lives. Contact our office to request a
speaker.
6
Workshop on Wetlands
On November 12 & 13 Wright State University and the
Beaver Creek Wetlands Association hosted over 80 participants in a workshop on wetland delineation and mitigation
of wetland loss. Field trips and talks informed a wide variety of people from many different fields of interest. Since
much of the information was based on state and national
regulations we had instructors/ speakers from key agencies
making the presentations.
Spotted Turtle—Winter 2009-10
Science Corner
and winter habitats each has to run a different gauntlet of
potential problems to make it back to the breeding grounds
of summer. That means that if a species is missing or present we can get a sense of whether things have been bad or
Many years ago at the University of Cincinnati I visited my good for these delicate wonders. Sure, there will be variachemistry professor’s lab and was surprised to find a canary tions from year to year, but when we look at the reports
in a cage singing away. I thought that strange until he told
from many locations over a string of years trends emerge.
me that he worked with odorless but
Loss of summer or winter habitat is
very poisonous gasses and that if the
an obvious problem, but more subtle
canary was feeling unwell (ostensithings like loss of a favored insect
bly due to the escape of these gases)
or seed plant upon which to feed
it would stop singing. I immediately
may be a cause of decline. Water
thought of a book I had read much
quality and pollutants in the soil or
earlier entitled Silent Spring, by
water that is consumed as water or
Rachel Carson, where Carson painted
food can impact the birds. Some
a verbal landscape where birds no
chemicals can affect the sexual
longer sang due to the uncontrolled
development of animals and thus
and unwise pollution from man-made
lead to smaller broods. Environmenchemicals. That was back before
tal changes like invasive plants or
color TV, before hippies, the Cuban
changes in temperature can mean
missile crisis, landings on the moon,
that certain required elements of bird
cell phones and the internet. It was
lifecycles cannot be carried out.
before we knew how many hormones
Our work to restore and protect
worked and certainly before birth
habitat in the Beaver Creek Wetlands
control pills were a right of passage.
is a small but important part of preBhopal and Love Canal were not in
serving the rich diversity of species
our vocabulary but Rachel Carson
on a global scale. The next time we
had it squarely pegged, nature was
are going to check out the birds is
able to give us signs when we were
Male Belted Kingfisher, note the white spot coming 5 PM April 30 to 5PM May
doing something wrong.
1 when we do our annual Birdathon.
in front of his eye
Each spring BCWA, Dayton
Put it on your calendar and start savPhoto by Richard Swigart
Audubon and other local organizaing some pennies, nickels and dimes
tions take time to check out birds migrating from their
to contribute, and by all means join in the effort to find as
wintering grounds through Ohio in order to get a sense
many bird species as possible during that 24 hour period.
of the health of our current environment. By determining
Let us know right now if you want to join us. Teams are
how many species we find, we get to know how “rich” our
forming so we can cover all of the 1700 acres of the Beaver
environment is. Since each species has different habits,
Creek Wetlands.
foods, nesting requirement, natural enemies and diseases
—Jim Amon
Birds tell us about the health
and condition of the wetlands
Winter birding
Look for these birds this
winter in the Beaver Creek
Wetlands. They are the ones
I usually see. You may find
more but these are often
there. Use the field guide
Birds of Ohio by James
McCormac and Gregory
Kennedy to find these birds
by habitat, location and
season in Ohio.
—Jim Amon
American Wigeon
Northern Pintail
Hooded Merganser
Great Blue Heron
Northern Harrier
Cooper’s Hawk
Red-shouldered Hawk
Red-tailed Hawk
Kestrel
Screech Owl
Great Horned Owl
Barred Owl
Belted Kingfisher
Red Bellied Woodpecker
Downy Woodpecker
Hairy Woodpecker
Blue Jay
Crow
Carolina Chickadee
Tufted Titmouse
White Breasted Nutharch
Carolina Wren
Eastern Bluebird
American Robin
Cedar Waxwing
Song Sparrow
Swamp Sparrow
White Throated Sparrow
White Crowned Sparrow
Dark Eyed Junco
Northern Cardinal
Cowbird
Starling
Grackle
Purple Finch
American Goldfinch
See this newsletter in full color online at www.beavercreekwetlands.org
7
2009 BCWA
Volunteer Activity
Debbie Karr and Rob Evans
I
n 2009, 64 different volunteers
invested over 950 hours into habitat restoration and trail building
projects at various sites in the Beaver
Creek Wetlands. The three project
leaders, Jim Amon, Rob Evans, and
Don Geiger have all invested additional time into planning, preparation,
and clean up for each work session.
Fairborn Marsh
With guidance provided by Jim Amon,
twenty volunteers invested 149 hours
into the continued restoration efforts at
Fairborn Marsh. In the spring, volunteers planted bare root sugar maple,
redbud, white dogwood, black walnut,
and sweet gum saplings in the nursery
of this invasive shrub continued with
foliar spraying of the remaining small
plants, and the few large shrubs that
had been previously overlooked finally
fell victim to the chainsaw. Other tasks
included harvesting grass and flower
seed from the prairie and sowing it
in areas with sparse coverage, clearing weeds around the young trees
and shrubs in the two nurseries, and
clearing the tall vegetation around the
young burr oaks scattered throughout
the prairie in preparation for a future
burn to be conducted by the Fairborn
Fire Department.
Hunters Pointe Purple
Loosestrife Party
As reported in the fall 2009 edition of
this newsletter, 35 volunteers answered Jim Amon’s call for help and
spent approximately 170 hours sloshing through water nearly knee-deep
to remove the seed heads of towering
purple loosestrife plants in a 5-acre
area, preventing an estimated 6 billion
seeds of this wetland invader from
being dispersed downstream.
Creekside and Hershner
Reserves
Looking from the trail out to the south
entrance
Photo by Richard Swigart
on site, and then returned in the fall
to transplant them into the wooded
area to revegetate areas previously
cleared of bush honeysuckle. Control
8
Meeting nearly every Saturday morning from March through November,
volunteers under the direction of Don
Geiger invested 528 hours into habitat restoration activity at Creekside
and Hershner Reserves, both Greene
County Parks properties. There have
been 24 different participants, but 6
volunteers accounted for 421 hours of
that total!
Much of the activity this year
involved preparations for replanting
areas disturbed by the Little Beaver
Creek restoration project. Volunteer
work at the MEEC nursery included
digging and potting root sprouts of
native shrubs like bladdernut and gray
dogwood, digging and potting swamp
roses, planting bare root saplings of
swamp oak and bur oak, and propagating willows by taking cuttings, rooting, and then planting in the nursery.
At Hershner, invasive bush
honeysuckle and autumn olive were
Spotted Turtle—Winter 2009-10
removed from the stream banks and
fencerows. Other invasive plants
targeted were teasel, whose seed heads
were collected and destroyed, and
the large patch of non-native sweet
flag, which was covered with plastic
or layers of newspapers and mulch in
an attempt to smother it. The rooted
willow stakes from the MEEC nursery
were planted along the stream running
through the property to stabilize its
banks. Volunteers planted many other
wetland plants at this site, including
cardinal flower, turtlehead, bog and
Ohio goldenrod, boneset, Joe-Pye
weed, mountain mint, porcupine
sedge, and the native sweet flag.
At Creekside, invasive plant control continued, targeting honeysuckle,
autumn olive, Callery pear, reed
canary grass, Phragmites, and lesser
celandine.
Two wetland areas created by the
Little Beaver Creek restoration project
have been vegetated with native wetland plants including buttonbush, ninebark, swamp rose, shrubby cinquefoil,
meadowsweet, boneset, three species
of goldenrod (bog, Ohio, & Riddell’s),
cardinal flower, skullcap, spike rush,
and bulrush. Seeds of other wetland
plants have been sown throughout.
Thanks go to the Greene County
Parks employees who assisted at several work sessions at both Creekside
and Hershner in 2009, helping to haul
mountains of mulch via wheelbarrows
from the piles dumped as close as possible to the work sites, but still much
too far away!
Project leader Don Geiger advises
that plans for Creekside Reserve for
spring 2010 will be site preparation for
planting over 500 trees at three locations along the restored Little Beaver
Creek. Site selection for planting will
be done with guidance from a University of Dayton professor whose specialty is forestry. Color-coded bamboo
poles will be installed to mark planting
sites, and then an auger will be used to
loosen the soil, which will be amended
with organic material. The 500 trees of
various species will then be planted,
using the bamboo poles for support,
and a 3’x3’ fabric weed guard will
be installed to minimize competition
from fast growing weeds. The newly
planted trees will be watered from the
creek with the assistance of a gasoline
powered pump.
If you would like to assist with the
tree planting project at Creekside Reserve next spring, please contact Don
Geiger at [email protected] to be added to the Creekside
volunteer distribution list. Please note:
Greene County requires volunteers
on its properties to submit a volunteer
application and sign a liability release.
Both forms will be available on site.
Koogler One Year Later
About this time last year I (Rob) was
approached by our President Susie
Scott and Trustee Jim Amon to build
a trail into the Koogler Reserve. After
all the planning, mapping, flagging,
and preparing, the trail is starting to
take shape. With the hard work of a
bunch of volunteers,
the trail extends about
1/2 mile and will provide excellent access
to the back areas of the
property for the upcoming work season in
2010. The remainder of
the trail enters into or
traverses some areas that
are very wet for most of
the year so a boardwalk
is planned. Additionally,
and most noticeably, was
the clearing of the honeysuckle around
the overlook that opened the foundation of the barn and views into the
fen and is now helping to reduce the
vandalism at the overlook itself.
The final trail will be an approximate 1 mile loop that enters from
either side of the reserve parking lot
and goes all way back near where the
Beaver Creek crosses the property.
To the south, features include mostly
mixed woods and an open wet woods.
To the north is a large open fen that is
abuzz with birds. Soon, there will be
approximately 650 feet of boardwalk
that will span parts of the meadow to
the north and the wooded wet areas on
the rear parts of the trail.
In addition to clearing the trail, the
volunteers have been clearing invasive plants such as purple loosestrife,
honeysuckle and multiflora rose. The
removal of the invasives will continue
into next year with the addition of
a large area of sweet flag. All is not
destruction and clearing though — in
the open prairie areas around and to
the south of the overlook, the volunteers were able to liberate a nice grove
of dogwoods and have planted red bud
and sweet gum trees. Prairie grasses
such as indian grass, big bluestem,
little bluestem and switch grass have
been sown. In the wooded areas to the
north woodland mix of seeds such as
rye, wingstem, white snakeroot, sweet
Cicely and tall bellflower have been
spread to compete with the garlic mustard that is inevitable with the removal
of all that honeysuckle.
All this and the upcoming work
Thank You!
Thanks to the following people
for helping with the Gaining
Ground fund raising mailing and
to those who worked in our booth
at the Fairborn Sweet Corn Festival and at Beavercreek Popcorn
Festival. We couldn’t function
without our volunteers!
Bruce Ford; Dane & Priscilla Mutter; Sue & Ted Rytel;
Ann Byrd; Susie Scott; Judith
Streiff; Rob Evans; Jim Maley;
Lynn Reily; Richard Swigart;
Doug Hull; Chris Martin; Sally
& Jerry Meike: Abby Shroyer;
Brian & Sandy Woodruff;
Christina Maynard; Jim & Carol
Amon; Mark Martel; Steve Blatt;
Dorothy Bordewisch; Dorothy
Mulhauser; Arthur Bauer; Dave
& Mary Townsley; Betty Martel;
Pat Hefner; Mike Baumer.
How to Volunteer
Volunteers clearing honeysuckle in
front of overlook. Jim Amon, Bob
Louis and Susie Scott
Photo by Richard Swigart
couldn’t be done without the dedicated
volunteers, guidance from the BCWA
“experts” and the grant from the Dayton Foundation. In 2009, we had 22
volunteers who put in over 94 hours
of work. A special thanks also goes
out to the folks with the Beavercreek
Township who faithfully removed
our mountains of honeysuckle limbs,
turned them into mulch and who are
graciously allowing us to transform
this property into another wonderful
place to explore in the Beaver Creek
Wetlands.
Each field project has a variety
of tasks to be accomplished. The
specifics are sent via e-mail to the
volunteer distribution list prior to
the work session, enabling recipients to select projects or even
specific tasks by interest or ability,
and to be prepared for site conditions.
If you would like to be notified
of future volunteer opportunities,
please contact BCWA’s administrative coordinator at [email protected] to be added to
the volunteer distribution list.
See this newsletter in full color online at www.beavercreekwetlands.org
9
Boardwalk repairs
and Beaver activity
Debbie Karr and Jim Amon laid down
another layer of boards to raise the
level of the boardwalk above the
current flooding. Why the flooding?
Beavers now have at least four colonies on Beaver Creek. They can be a
nuisance and while we like them they
do now need to be thinned out a bit. If
they flood some areas they will kill endangered species or invite invasion of
reed canary grass or purple loosestrife.
We have a responsibility to not only
protect the wetlands and all its habitats
but we also have a responsibility to
manage it.
Richard Swigart
The world is becoming obsessed
with the footprints we are leaving
on this earth. Carbon footprints,
global warming, rising seas, and
melting ice caps are the headlines
of the day.
It is a big world and we all
wonder what can “little old me”
do about all this?
Well, we can start right here at
home and support local conservation
efforts in our backyard. The Beaver
Creek Wetlands offer the perfect
opportunity for us to make a difference. We are asking you to take steps,
make footprints, big or small, to save
a place that is teeming with nature and
is in need of protection. Your financial
contributions go directly to the preservation work of the BCWA.
BCWA’s annual Gaining Ground
campaign continues through the winter.
Please leave your mark on this
world by supporting the effort to
protect this beautiful legacy for the
next generation to have a wild place in
which to leave their footprints! Send
your contributions to BCWA, P.O. Box
42, Alpha, OH 45301.
Step lightly on the world but
leave your mark!
Thanks for your support.
—Suzie Scott
Richard Swigart
Footprints
Correction
In our fall issue a member noticed a
mislabeled butterfly. The photo on
page 9 was not a black swallowtail
butterfly but a red-spotted purple.
Preparing for Spring
Photo by Richard Swigart
Great Blue Heron and unknown tracks
Come spring you may see an email letting you know of the many volunteer
opportunities we have in BCWA. In
late April we go to Lake Erie to collect
special beetles that we hope will begin
to control the spread of the invading
purple loosestrife. Then we will again
be at the planting and improvements at
Creekside and Fairborn Marsh. Most
sessions are on weekends and only
take 3-4 hours. We like to see you
arrive at the beginning of the work period so we can give instructions but we
understand if you need to leave early.
(Yes, there is a life beyond wetlands.)
Check our website frequently for
volunteer activities—even in winter!
To join, simply send us an email to
[email protected].
Unidentified fungus on a tree trunk
at Fairborn Marsh. Our best guess is
Velvet Toes (Flammulina velutipes).
10
Spotted Turtle—Winter 2009-10
Call for Nominations for
Beaver Creek Wetlands
Association Trustees
Want to be even more involved with
the BCWA? Would you like to help
decide the direction of the organization? Do you know someone who
is interested in becoming a BCWA
Trustee?
The BCWA Trustees are folks just
like you, with a variety of occupations,
backgrounds and interests, with one
thing in common... a concern for our
environment that drives us to become
involved in preserving a most precious
natural resource, right in our own
backyard.
The Beaver Creek Wetlands Association is now seeking nominations
for trustees to be elected at the Annual
Meeting in May of 2010 in which
there will be four (4) seats elected.
The principal responsibilities of
a BCWA Trustee are not difficult. A
Trustee should simply:
• Participate in Board of Trustee meetings once a month.
• Serve as a member on selected Board
of Trustee committees.
• Participate in the functions and
activities of the BCWA.
• Serve a three (3) year term, which is
eligible for 2 terms.
Designate up to 1% of your Dorothy
Lane Market Purchases to benefit
the BCWA.
Dorothy Lane Market makes annual
contributions to customers’ designated
charities. If you are a member of
Club DLM (if you have the Dorothy
Lane Market shoppers’ card), you can
designate the BCWA as your preferred
charity. Just fill in the attached form
and drop it off at a DLM customer service counter, or mail it to the Dorothy
Lane Market.
Join the BCWA Today!
Help reclaim our local wetlands corridor
and restore it’s natural beauty and function.
Your member dues fund land acquisition,
education programs, habitat restoration
and management of our preserve.
Please make your check payable to BCWA and
mail to: BCWA, P.O. Box 42, Alpha, OH 45301
Name
Address
A 501(c)(3) land
trust organization.
Your donation is
tax deductible.
Phone Email
Choose your member level:
$5
Student
$10
Senior (60+)
$15
Individual
$25
Family
• Perform all duties in accordance the
BCWA Bylaws.
Please submit the applicable name,
address, telephone number and email,
along with brief description no later
than April 30, 2010 to: webmaster@
beavercreekwetlands.org
Club DLM
Good Neighbor
Program
Return to any DLM
location or mail to:
Dorothy Lane Market
2710 Far Hills Ave.
Dayton, Ohio 45419
$35
$50
$100
$1,000
Contributing
Supporting
Patron
Life
We are a non-profit 501(c)(3) land
trust governed by a volunteer, nonpaid Board of Trustees. The Trustees
are elected to three year terms by
the membership at our annual public
meeting held in May of each year.
I understand that up to 1% of my purchases
(from this day forward) made with my
Club DLM card will be rebated to the
Beaver Creek Wetlands Association, once
I have spent $250 in one calendar year.
NAME
PHONE
SIGNATURE
CLUB DLM NUMBER (located on your DLM card or keychain tag)
BCWA/Good Neighbor code number: 671
See this newsletter in full color online at www.beavercreekwetlands.org
11
P.O. BOX 42
ALPHA, OH 45301
Return Service Requested
NONPROFIT
ORGANIZATION
U.S. POSTAGE PAID
ALPHA, OHIO 45301
PERMIT NUMBER 76
Moving? New e-mail address?
Don’t miss an issue! Call 937-320-9042
or email: [email protected]
The Spotted Turtle | Volume 24, No. 1 | Winter 2009-10
Officers
Susie Scott, President
Rob Evans, Vice President
Sue Rytel, Secretary
Doug Hull, Treasurer
Trustees
Aja Ash
Deborah Karr
Ed Phillips
Susie Scott
Richard Swigart
Ed Dressler
Sue Rytel
Judith Streiff
Mike Zimmerman
Jim Amon
Lorie Burger
Rob Evans
Kate Hagenbuch
Mark Martel
Christina Simmons
Spotted Turtle Editors
Jim and Carol Amon
Mark Martel
Publisher
Oregon Printing
www.oregonprinting.com
Webmaster
Rob Evans
Contact Us
Administrative Coordinator
[email protected]
President
[email protected]
Technical Advisor
[email protected]
Webmaster
[email protected]
Visit us Online
www.beavercreekwetlands.org
Richard Swigart
Label (1” x 2-5/8” ) here.
Place carefully to
cover bottom line completely
but do not touch top line.