Organizational Meeting

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Our next meeting on February 21st, at 2pm at the Elyria Public Library, West River branch near Midway Mall is open to all members. Hoping that more people will show up, we have selected this larger meeting space. Please come with ideas for tabling at Earth Day Events, nominations for Board Members, and plans for our future.

The 're-boot' Fowl Meeting Feb. 21, 2010

Fowl Meeting Feb. 21, 2010
If you read the December Friends of Wetlands Newsletter you are aware that there are some dramatic changes taking place at FOWL. Our founder and president since 1991, John Katko, has resigned. He is spending much of his time in California these days.
In the interest of restructuring the leadership of FOWL we are meeting to consider how and where we go from here. The first such meeting was last week. Meeting minutes can be found at http://freindsofwetlands.pbworks.com. In two hours we barely got started with our agenda. Our next step is to develop a new board of directors.
Since John bore the burden of duties for FOWL, several new leaders are needed to take on and share responsibilities. FOWL will likely take a new direction and character as the leadership is reconstituted. We have begun a Call for Nominations to the FOWL Board of Directors.  Our goal is to have a new leadership to present to the members in time for the FOWL Picnic on June 19th.  I am beginning to think of this as a 're-boot' of FOWL since it looks like we are starting all over again. I hope it is more like an upgrade.
It is time that the organization rethink what it is about. Please consider adding your thought and talents to this process. Our next 're-boot' meeting will be on Sunday Feb. 21 at the Elyria Public Library, West River Branch at 2pm. See events.fowl.org for details. If you would like to contribute but cannot attend, you can email me or start a discussion at http://blog.fowl.org.

Ohio Reptile Research and Conservation Conference

Registration is now open for the Ohio Reptile Research and Conservation Conference to be held on Saturday, March 13, 2010 in Columbus, Ohio. Sponsored by the Ohio Division of Wildlife and the Ohio Biological Survey, invited speakers from the Midwest will present findings of recent research and conservation projects involving Ohio’s snakes, turtles, and lizards.

The Conference will start with setup and registration from 8:30-9:00 AM. Paper presentations will commence at 9:00 AM. Lunch will be provided as part of the regular registration fee of $35 ($25 for students). All registrants to the conference will also receive an inaugural Ohio Wildlife Legacy Stamp (a $15 value). On-site registration fees are the same, but with no lunch. The conference concludes at 5 PM.

For details see: http://www.ohioamphibians.com/reptile/index.html

Phragmites partners with microbes to plot native plants' demise

Phragmites partners with microbes to plot native plants' demise

Friends of Wetlands - Blog: Creating Shallow Water Wetlands

Friends of Wetlands - Blog: Creating Shallow Water Wetlands


http://valleyforgewetland.shutterfly.com/
Join me at my wetland website by clicking on this link.

Creating Shallow Water Wetlands

In the spring of 2007 a project was undertaken to build a shallow water wetland in a courtyard of Valley Forge High School, Parma Hts, Ohio. Looking back at my time spent working on this project, it is an amazing success. The school is using this wetland as a working lab for the biology, art and chemistry students. It really is true that if you build it they will come. There is never a day that we are not amazed by the activities of this man-made wetland. Check out the link to my website for this wetland and make sure you look at all the pages right of the home page. I was told many times that it was impossible to make this happen but as you will see in my website nothing is impossible if you really want it to happen. But of course, it is all up to you.

35 truck loads of hand dug clay was wheelbarrowed through the hallways and dumped in the front of the school. A total of 125 students, teachers , administrators and alumni worked to make this project a great success. It is planted with native pants and we will work to improve it as we go. The wetland has since been register with the National Wildlife Federation.

"Flash floods have increased in urban area over the last 20 years. This is in part by the loss of wetlands from Northeast Ohio and the urban sprawl that has occured leaving much of the land covered in concrete and putting the bulk of runoff in the sewers which quickly dump into streams and then major rivers.

This is a one of a kind project design of a wetland that will also be a nature center. The students will design a way to divert rain water from the school roof to the wetland, dig the wetland to specific standards for sustaining life, remove non-native species of plants and replace with native ones, stock wetland with wildlife, create learning posts and guide brochures, design a website, design and conduct tours for visitors, design hands-on experiments easily performed by students and grade appropriate according to state content standards.

LEARNING EXPERIENCES INCLUDE

. Working with adults and organizations

. Stewardship toward the wetland

. Knowledge of wetland ecosystem

. Organism identification

. Invasive species and management

. Water quality and water cycles through the seasons

. Need for wetlands to manage flooding

PLANTS INCLUDE: INSECTS INCLUDE: ANIMALS INCLUDE:

Nodding wild onion prairie Odantes (Dragon flies) Amphibians

Marsh milkweed Blue dasher Green frogs

Sky blue aster Eastern pondhawk Toads

New England aster butter Familiar bluet Reptiles/snapping turtle

Marigold wild senna Skimming bluet Sparrows

Purple coneflower prairie Common whitetail Finches

Showy sunflower prairie Widow skimmer Cardinals

Wild yellow iris Twelve-spotted skimmer Blue jays

Dense blazing star Black saddlebags Chickadees

Giant blue lobelia Common baskettail Tufted tit-mouse

Common mountain mint Dot-tailed whiteface Blue heron

Royal catchfly Eastern amberwing Green heron

Stiff goldenrod big bluestem Ruby meadow hawk Mallard ducks

Culvers root American rubyspot Canadian geese

Smooth Ironweed Violet dancer

Cup plant

At Valley Forge, we have created a living land lab to educate students about eleviating the flash floods around urban areas, wetland management, native vs. non-native organisms, classification of organisms, pollution, recycling, food webs, and populations." ( from Wetland pamphlet compiled at Valley Forge Highschool for tour of the Friends of Big Creek organization, 2009)"

This information was compiled by Jon Komar a biology teacher at Valley Forge HS and also Jim Wohl who is a Backyard Habitat Steward of the National Wildlife Federation and steering committee member of Friend of Big Creek Watershed.