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Beaver Creek Wetlands Association
In this Issue
Flooded Trails ............................. 1President’s Message ................. 2Volunteer Corner ....................... 3Science Corner ........................... 5Things to Look For .................... 5New Bridge, Phillips Park ...... 6Mayflies ......................................... 7Nest Box Notes ........................... 8Eagle Scout Project ................... 8Purple Loosestrife Update .... 9BCWA Annual Meeting ............ 10Bird Sightings ............................. 10Endowment Fund ..................... 11
Volume 29, No. 3 Summer 2015
www.beavercreekwetlands.org
CalendarJuly
July 24-26Midwest Native Plant Conference
AugustAug. 15 & 16Fairborn Sweet Corn Festival
SeptemberSep. 12 & 13Beavercreek Popcorn Festival
Sun., Sep. 20, 2:30 p.m.Monarch Tagging at Koogler Wet-land/Prairie Reserve
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Am
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Yikes, what happened to the trails at Koogler Wetland and Prairie Re-serve? Recent rains caused some serious flooding! In some places the trail was under nearly 3 feet of water and the boardwalk was displaced in anoth-er site. It is likely that some repair will be needed. The loop trail is walkable, but be careful in uneven sections.
Swam
ped!
2 Spotted Turtle—Summer 2015
President’s Message
Phot
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Jim
Am
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Hello! I’m Jim Schneider, newly elected president of the Beaver Creek Wetlands Association. For those who do not know me … a little background.
I worked for Greene County Parks for 21 years. As Assistant Director and Project Manager I had many op-portunities to work with members and volunteers from BCWA. I espe-cially worked with Brother Don Gei-ger from UD and Dr. Jim Amon from Wright State. On several occasions, as the BCWA volunteers worked on projects at Creekside Reserve, I was able to bring out the county’s equip-ment to assist them in their efforts to remove invasive plants from the park. I was always impressed with their hard work and their willing-ness to get dirty.
After I retired in 2008, I wanted to stay active in the parks and con-tinue to see them improve. BCWA seemed like the perfect way to meet that goal. As I remove inva-sive plants, plant native species and build boardwalks and trails, I am reminded of what kept me in the parks and recreation profession for 35 years … seeing the public enjoy the fruits of my labor.
I am honored to serve as Presi-dent of the Beaver Creek Wetlands Association and at the same time I feel under-qualified to assume this role. As I look at the credentials of past presidents and look at the knowledge and expertise of my fel-low board members, I am humbled by their qualities. But, I believe in the work that we do and believe that it benefits today’s and tomorrow’s generations and I pledge to give my best to protect the Beaver Creek wetlands and continue that role of conservation in our community.
In the past year the board has been working on an updated strate-
gic plan for the Wetlands organiza-tion. Though not finalized, as yet, the process has brought to our attention several issues which I plan to ad-dress in the coming year. Over 2000 acres of the Beaver Creek and Little Beaver Creek watersheds have been protected. While we will continue to seek opportunities to protect more wetlands and buffer zones in these corridors, our focus now needs to shift to enhancing, restoring and preserving these unique habitats. I am already working with our land management committee to develop a strategy to protect our most pris-tine areas and from there, working toward enhancing critical wetland habitats.
A second issue we have dis-covered in the strategic planning process is that we need to be more visible to the public in order to gen-erate support for protecting the wet-lands. Toward that goal, I will work with our public relations committee to increase our use of social media, develop our speaker’s bureau and offer more programs to the public. With more programs and increased awareness of the BCWA, we hope to attract new members as well as more volunteers to help us preserve these unique habitats.
I look forward to meeting as many of you as possible. Check for our scheduled programs and look for us at festivals, parades and other special events www.beavercree-kwetlands.org. Better yet, stop by when we are working in one of the beautiful wetland areas. See you in the wetlands!
—Jim Schneider
A soggy place to sit! Koogler Wetland and Prairie Reserve, shown
after the recent heavy rainfalls.
BCWA president, Jim Schneider
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See this newsletter in full color online at www.beavercreekwetlands.org 3
More Volunteer News on page 4
Volunteer Corner: The Impact of Group ProjectsLike many organizations, the BCWA has a core group of dedicated
volunteers who show up week after week, making slow but steady progress in the effort to control invasive plant species or replant a cleared area. They are in it for the long haul and realize that results often take quite a bit of time and persistence to become apparent.
Over the past few years, BCWA has been contacted by several corpo-rate and student groups searching for a service project.
There is nothing like the immediate impact of a group project! Whether it is a site cleanup, trail building, a wetland restoration plant-ing, or a honeysuckle removal project, a large group can immediately see the impact their efforts have made!
—Debbie Karr
BCWA’s 2015 volunteer season began with requests for group service projects from two student groups from the University of Dayton and a corporate group, all scheduled in April.
On April 11, students from the UD Sustainability Club planted native spicebush, bladdernut, wafer ash, and red bud in areas previously cleared of non-native honeysuckle at Hagenbuch Re-serve. When the planting was com-pleted, they helped to break up the remaining dead honeysuckle to hasten its decomposition. Sustain-ability Club volunteers were Abby Aceto, Jason Demeter, Jill Foster, Ellen Hall, Dillon Moher, Patrick O’Brien, Emily Rockwell, Ryan Sara, Kevin Shanahan, Matt Sheri-dan, Magdalene Stirn, and Peter Tierney.
A cleanup project of the littered US35 embankment overlooking Zimmerman Prairie was scheduled for the UD TriBeta students the following week, on April 18. This was coordinated with the City of Beavercreek Public Services, which provided reflective safety vests for the volunteer group working near the highway and
disposed of the pile of material collected (The aluminum cans and plastic bottles were separated for recycling). Thanks to the folks at McAfee Sports Center for permit-ting us to use their parking lot to stage this project! TriBeta volun-teers included Becca Creed, Lindzi Hoersten, Stephanie Pohlman, and Matt Riccetti, assisted by Abby Aceto, Meg Maloney, and David Sachs from the Sustainability Club, who came back for a second project!
The coordinator for LJB Inc. was looking for a family-friendly Earth Day project for their corporate group on April 25. Multiple activi-ties were planned for Koogler Wet-land/Prairie Reserve—a cleanup project, shrub planting, and seed sowing. Unfortunately, the weather did not cooperate. Rain moved in, but they stuck it out, even having a soggy picnic lunch afterward! The shrubs were all planted and seeds of floodplain species were sown in areas cleared of honeysuckle by the UD TriBeta group last fall. Many bags of trash were collected and a few more tires were pulled out of this site. Again, the alumi-num cans and plastic bottles were
separated for recycling. Beaver-creek Township disposed of the material collected at this site. LJB volunteers included Braxton Campbell, Eddie Drow, Dianne Lawson-Smith, the Metz family (Holly, Jacob, Mike), the Mueller family (Greg, Shannon, Phillip, & Lillian), Chad Rigsby, Mike Shell, the Sleimers family (Andrew, Beth, Danny, John, & Lucia), Phil-lip Smith, Rod Sommer, and Alex Zelles.
Members of the Youth Group for Indian Culture continue to come out individually to assist BCWA’s regular volunteers with a variety of tasks at multiple sites. Spring volunteers from this group in-cluded Arihant Chordia, Om Desai, Sanjana & Venugopal Yerubandi.
In addition to assisting with the previously mentioned group proj-ects, BCWA’s regular volunteers continue to meet on Saturdays and Sundays to care for sites in the wetlands. Under the direction of Don Geiger, the Saturday morn-ing crew works at multiple sites along the Little Beaver Creek. The focus this spring has been remov-ing vegetation along Creekside Trail at Zimmerman Prairie, and
Volunteers from LJB, Inc.
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Spring Volunteer Activity
4 Spotted Turtle—Summer 2015
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then removing the dilapidated fence. The purpose of this activity is two-fold—most of the vegetation is non-native and creeps into the remnant wet prairie, plus it opens up the view so users of the bike path can actually see the prairie. At BCWA’s Hagenbuch Reserve, volunteers planted additional na-tive shrubs on the south side of the Little Beaver Creek. Other sites vis-ited this spring were Little Beaver Creek Prairie for poison hemlock control and Hershner Reserve for sweetflag control. While rearrang-ing tarps used to solarize sweetflag at this location, the crew was dis-mayed to see the number of Callery pear saplings in the prairie. We finished the May work sessions by lopping and treating many of this increasingly problematic species.
Under the direction of Jim Amon, the focus of the Sunday work crew has been the boardwalk at Sieben-thaler Fen—raising the last of the submerged sections and trimming overhanging vegetation so the way is passable for visitors. A massive logjam was discovered at Koogler Reserve in the tributary stream along New Germany Trebein Road, causing water and trash from the road to flow through the sedge meadow (which created the need for a cleanup project). The initial attempt to dislodge it was unsuc-cessful. After the LJB project, ad-ditional native shrubs and sedges were planted along the creek where honeysuckle had been pre-viously removed, and then wetland plants were plugged in the prairie swale in the front of the park. One of our new volunteers tackled the common nightshade that was over-running parts of the sedge meadow near the boardwalk. What a mess! We looked like we had been mud
wrestling! (Go, Claire!)In addition to the regularly sched-
uled weekend projects, volunteers met during the week to take care of issues as needed. Control of persis-tent reed canary grass continues at the Tower Wetlands, the conserva-tion easement in Beavercreek Town-ship. The trails at Fairborn Marsh and boardwalk at Koogler Reserve need to be mowed or trimmed. All the new shrubs planted this spring require watering when rainfall is inadequate. Work also continues on the Monarch Waystation at Hagen-buch Reserve, with a small group meeting on Thursday mornings. The focus is on removal of the problem biennial weeds—sweet clover, red clover, teasel, and Queen Anne’s lace with additional planting planned to fill in the bare spots. All the shrubs, sedges, and forbs planted this spring were grown at the greenhouse at Wright State University or at the homes of some of our volunteers, requiring lots of care and time.
Land management volunteers for these activities include Deb Adams, Carol Amon, Nancy Bain, Eric Bee, Alex Bee, Skip Beehler, Ryan Bouf-fioux, Bill Byrd, Steve Carnegis,
Volunteer News, Cont’d from p. 3
Matt Cary, Aaron Deckard, Lois Gschwender, Debbie Karr, Mat Kirsch, Greg Notestine, Claire Ru-tiser, Ranga Sundar, Jim Schneider, Richard Swigart, Hitesh Trivedi, Chris Valadez, and Tom Whitman.
Volunteers also helped to pre-pare mailings at the Coy House of-fice and staff the booth at festivals and events. The membership drive and annual meeting envelope stuff-ing parties were attended by Doro-thy Bordewisch, Ann Byrd, Steve & Susie Demmy, Lois Gschwender, Judy Renz, Judith Streiff, Richard Swigart, Dave & Mary Townsley, and Brian Woodruff. There were two events this spring: the Knoll-wood Garden Party and EarthFest. Nancy Bain, Ann Byrd, Steve & Cathy Carnegis, Dave Duell, Rob Evans, Rob & Niki Foor, Nina Grif-fin, Denny Jarvi, Jean Kash, Marilyn Rodney, Dave Shumway, Bill Skelly, Veeraraghavan & Ranga Sundar, Richard Swigart, Mike Zimmerman all worked a shift at one or both of these events.
What a busy spring we have had in the Beaver Creek wetlands! Thank you all for your time and efforts!
—Debbie Karr
LJB, Inc., a local company, sent a volunteer crew to Koogler Wetland/Prairie Reserve for a cleanup project. They also planted shrubs and sowed seed.
Despite a miserable rainy day, they were good sports and even stayed to enjoy their picnic lunch outdoors.
See this newsletter in full color online at www.beavercreekwetlands.org 5
Science Corner: How Is A Frog Like A Canary? “Like a canary in the coal mine”
is an old saying noting that canar-ies were placed in mines because they were super sensitive to toxic gases that might endanger the min-ers. Well, frogs work that way in the wetlands. Their skin is very moist and tender and can absorb essential oxygen from air. The tenderness of this skin can help us know if something is in the environment and is threat-ening the habitat long before other, more resilient species are affected.
Although we would rather not use chemicals like herbicides to manage our wetlands we some-times have to do just that. One of the nice observations I make almost every time I am out there, where we are desperately trying to eliminate Reed Canarygrass, is the abundance of frogs and other amphibians that are likewise our “canaries”. I also look at the insect population because it is so impor-tant to the pollination of the enor-mous variety of plants in our fens. They seem to be doing just fine. Lots of things are now in bloom and I literally see dozens of butter-
flies, beetles, flies, gnat, bees, spi-ders, wasps and crane flies swirling and crawling around the blossoms.
Every species of plant seems to have a different complement of insects so that, in total, the insects I see make up hundreds of species. Without a full census of what is there and what role they play we can’t be sure whether there are enough pollina-tors. We can, however, look at the success of pollination by seeing if most of the plants are producing vi-able seeds. They are doing fine thus far!
Management of a complex re-source like the Beaver Creek Wet-lands is an enormous task. When we are focused on removal or control of
one species it is easy to forget that we are treating more than just that target. Collateral damage (to insects, frogs etc.) can, and certainly does occur, but we need to look “outside
of the box” and consider the po-tential harm that would occur
if we did not exert control on non-native species that are very aggressive.
You can see the conse-quence of some of our man-
agement by walking the trail, especially the wooden first part,
at Siebenthaler Fen. Flooding by beaver, several years back, drowned many trees and understory plants and when the flooding was gone, aggressive Reed Canarygrass took over forming a near monoculture. Carefully timed spraying with a grass specific herbicide has removed most of the Reed Canarygrass and an amazing variety of sedges and forbs have sprung up from dormant seeds to replace it. Take a look and see what I mean. The number of species can be estimated without knowing the names of the plants, just simply by recognizing the differ-ent kind of leaves and seeds they are producing. Awesome.
—Jim Amon, Technical Advisor
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Things To Look For This Summer
The Marsh Marigolds, Irises, and Great Angelica will have com-pleted their blooms by time you see this, but there is more to come. Right around the fourth of July the puffy pink flowers of Queen of the Prairie start the summer fireworks at Siebenthaler Fen. Look closely wherever you go because some of the coolest flowers are the tiny ones. Go out in the early morn-
ing for a wonderful display of the morning mist with sunlight filtering through it casting rays on intricate spider webs. Early morning is not a bad time to see a few beaver as well. Beaver dams come and go so, keep looking at each of the reserves in the Beaver Creek Wetlands. Some of the prairie flowers will be beginning their display there too. At Fairborn Marsh stop at the observation deck
and look out in the open water areas for herons, ducks and an occasional Belted Kingfisher, and check out the prairie where you will see a new Bluebird Trail. At the Phillips Park and Beavercreek Wetland Nature Preserve it is pretty easy to find doz-ens of bird species along the trails. Take your camera and binoculars and have a great time.
—Jim Amon
6 Spotted Turtle—Summer 2015
New Bridge Connects Rotary Park with Phillips Park
The Beavercreek Township Trustees have reconnected Rotary Park and Phillips Park with a new bridge over the Beaver Creek. The original bridge had been closed for 3 years when it became unsafe due to age and flooding. Finding a workable solution took time. A local consultant mentioned that there was a bridge company in Dayton that could design and build a suitable structure that would meet the needs for a replacement bridge. In September of last year a plan started to come together.
Once it was discovered that a local company could design and build a new bridge, the Trustees employed Mitch Cosler, a local engineer, to provide survey work and coordinate approval of the new structure with the County Flood-plain Administrator. Composite
Advantage on Troy Street in Day-ton was hired to design and build the new bridge. Trail-Works was brought in to manage the project for the Township Trustees.
The original bridge over Beaver Creek was built in the 1990s with the help of Greene County Park staff with materials salvaged from used county highway bridges. After sev-eral floods and continued erosion threatened the bridge, the Town-ship crews raised the bridge and reinforced the banks to keep it in service. But time and weather took its toll and the decision was made to close the bridge for the safety of the visiting public.
Plans for the new bridge were completed in March of this year. Construction started in in mid-April and the bridge was finished in mid-May. The new bridge is slightly
longer at 45’, is 6’ wide and is more accessible than the old bridge. Visi-tors, at first, may think the bridge is unfinished because of its rusty ap-pearance. However, the trusses are made of weathering steel, a process that uses the surface oxidation to seal the steel from further oxida-tion. The deck is a fiber-reinforced composite material. These materials were selected to significantly reduce future maintenance costs for the Township. Life expectancy for the bridge is 75-100 years.
Having a new bridge in place provides renewed opportunity for the public to make a long hiking loop through Rotary Park, Phillips Park and the Beaver Creek Wetlands Nature Preserve. All three parks are part of areas protected by the Bea-ver Creek Wetlands Association .
—Jim Schneider
(L-R) The new bridge is lifted from its trailer and carefully lowered into place.
(L-R) Bridge workers make adjustments to the structure. Far right: Carol Amon enjoys a walk across the new bridge.
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See this newsletter in full color online at www.beavercreekwetlands.org 7
Ten Reasons to Love Mayflies (Ephemeroptera)
1. You don’t have to swat them, since mayflies really aren’t flies—just beneficial insects residing in streams and ponds.
2. Mayflies don’t bite! The sole purpose of the adults—rang-ing from 2.5 inches (Hexage-nia bilineata—the one that bombards the communities around Lake Erie) to less than an inch—is to reproduce, so the flying adults have no mouthparts or only greatly reduced ones.
Adult Mayfly Mayfly, Larval Stage
Mayfly Emergence (Gibraltar Island, OH)
3. They have three interesting stages of life: First is the larval stage where they stay in the water under rocks and stones; second, after a year (more or less), the nymph stage sheds its skin to become a winged subadult also called a dun fly; finally, a few months later, that creature makes its final molt changing into a sexually mature adult, called a spinner or imago. These flying adults lay eggs in the water to com-plete the lifecycle.
4. Mayfly nymphs help keep our streams and creeks clean. Feeding on fine, dead organic matter, the nymphs work as decomposers and help to recycle nutrients back into plants.
5. They are pollution intolerant, thus help us understand how
nature works. Yes, the winged adults can become nuisances: Communities around Lake Erie are famous with stories about piles of adult mayflies everywhere as they die by the millions soon after spring mating. Yet, in the 1960s and 70s, when mayflies disap-peared, people realized that was because the waters had become polluted, so took steps to clean up the lake. Now, realizing how important mayflies are as indicators of water quality, people must keep vigilant to ensure all of our lakes and rivers stay clean. Concerns with Lake Erie’s recent algal blooms have put Ohioans on mayfly alert- lower mayfly numbers may indicate a water quality problem. Perhaps putting up with a few weeks of mayfly mess isn’t so bad after all.
sometimes feathery (usually three) tail appendages. In-spect for the nymph—it could also be a stonefly (in the same family) or a damselfly.
8. Becoming adept at identifying these small creatures is fun and challenging. Mayflies are in a group of important crea-tures benthic-aquatic macro-invertebrates, which refers to animals that lack a backbone, are big enough to be seen with the naked eye, and spend at least a part of their lives in
6. Birds and fish eat them, mak-ing mayflies an important part of the aquatic food web.
7. You can develop a new skill. If you’re bored on a summer day, find a local creek that’s clean and clear to wade in. Lift up rocks in a riffle to check out the underside for the nymphs. You’re likely to find mayfly nymphs that can be identified by the long and
or on the bottom (benthos) of a body of water.
9. Once you become good at identifying some common mayflies, you’ll find there’s more to learn. North America has about 600 species, some of which have recently be-come extinct, making the case that more people need to study the quality of habitats where mayflies live.
10. You can enjoy finding out more about mayflies at www.MayflyNews.net. Keep track of mayflies that begin their pile up in May or June. Read how communities get along with these prolific insects that enrich our lives
—Nancy Bain
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8 Spotted Turtle—Summer 2015
As of June 1, 2015, the nest box trail at Fairborn Marsh currently has a number of Tree Swallow nests as well
as a Carolina Chickadee and House Wren nest with 7 eggs in each! An Eastern Bluebird did attempt a nest there but abandoned it in the pres-ence of some Tree Swallows. This is not unusual as the actual trail was not established until April when the Tree Swallows were already return-ing from winter migration. Bluebirds can sometimes be shy on a new trail; however, there is still plenty of time this season for them to select a site if desired. Tree Swallows will typically not start a new nest after mid-July, but some Bluebirds nest through August. A few reports in recent years from northeast Ohio indi-cated some Bluebirds nesting there through early September. If Blue-birds have a good food source in the winter, they will over-winter in the area (sometimes in larger flocks), and they may be more “familiar” with the housing next season. They can start pondering housing op-
tions as early as mid-March. If you stop by Fairborn Marsh, you will see a beautiful sight of at least 8 Tree Swallows foraging in the air over the prairie, as they eat insects aerially and of course also bring them back to their nestlings. They eat mosqui-toes and provide some of nature’s free mosquito control! Some Tree Swallows have also been spotted over the adjacent neighborhood and once perched on a street sign. Other swallow species may also forage aerially together, and since the end of April, I have also, at various times, spotted Purple Martins (foraging at a higher altitude than the others), Barn Swallows and Northern Rough-Winged Swallows among the Tree Swallows.
—Bethany GrayAdditional update as of June 18:
Total successful fledglings to date: 15 Tree Swallows, 7 Carolina Chicka-dees, and 7 House Wrens. An East-ern Bluebird has been heard singing in the area of Nest Boxes 5 and 6. It’s possible there is a nest in a natural cavity nearby.
Eagle Scout Project Completed At Fairborn Marsh
Nest Box Trail Notes
I worked with the Beaver Creek Wetlands Association to improve the Fairborn Marsh Wetland for my Eagle project. I built a 5-foot by ten-foot boardwalk over a large eroded dip in the hiking trail, and I laid geotextile fabric and aggregate to make other sections of the trail less muddy. Planning was the hard-est part of the project.
I definitely enjoyed working with the Wetlands Association to earn my Eagle Scout rank and I enjoyed improving the quality of the trail so that others could enjoy their wet-land walks. I would like to thank the Beaver Creek Wetlands Association for all their help in completing my project.
—Isaac Graham
(l. & above) Isaac Graham & Crew
Tree Swallow has found a home!
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See this newsletter in full color online at www.beavercreekwetlands.org 9
Purple Loosestrife NotesAbout five years ago we introduced some special beetles that eat Purple Loosestrife, a beautiful but invasive
wetland plant, near Hunter’s Point South of Fairground Rd. The pictures here show a beetle (very tiny adult), a plant with damage done by these beetles and their caterpillars, and a plant without the damage by the beetle. After five years we are beginning to see some real impact on the invasive plant, and the beetle population has increased, spreading over a wide area – wherever the loosestrife is found. We estimate that in about two years we might see some significant reduction of the Purple Loosestrife.
—Jim Amon, Technical advisor
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(Left) Purple Loosestrife-eating beetle, and (right) Purple Loosestrife with damaged, brown area.
(Left) Undamaged Purple Loosestrife, and (right) in bloom. This is on Ohio’s top ten list of invasive plants!
10 Spotted Turtle—Summer 2015
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A Reminder:If you are not yet a member of the Beaver Creek Wetlands Association, go to www.beavercreekwetlands.org to join!
2015 BCWA Annual Meeting
Our annual meeting was held May 19, 2015 at Bergamo Center, Mount St. John.
The meeting kicked off with several announcements. Lois Gschwender was recognized as Vol-unteer of the Year in recognition of all that she has done over the years as a valued member of the associa-tion. Her accomplishments include her many hours working on Habitat Management, serving on the Board of Trustees, attending seminars of interest to the BCWA and being our facilitator for the BCWA Strategic Plan.
Debbie Karr was recognized as a departing Trustee and Alex Zelles was welcomed as a new trustee.
Rob Evans was presented with an award commemorating his five years of service as President of the BCWA and his contributions as site designer at Koogler Wetland/Prairie Reserve, webmaster, and service on BCWA committees.
Rob Evans’ successor in the leadership of BCWA is Jim Schnei-der (read his comments inside this newsletter).
BCWA’s past year highlights were presented by Treasurer Doug Hull, who narrated Jim Amon’s PowerPoint presentation illustrat-ing the work of our volunteers and partners. Topics ranged from chain-saw safety and usage, to herbicide application and a classroom setting on what wetlands are, where our volunteers learned about habitat management and invasive control.
With the help of funding partners, projects on enhancing and protect-ing the wetlands in the Beaver Creek corridor are ongoing.
A Board of Trustees election was conducted, where Rob Evans and Al-exandra Zelles were newly elected. Nancy Bain, Lois Gschwender and Jim Runkle were voted in as continu-ing trustees.
Rob Evans introduced guest speaker, Mike Enright, who is the Conservation Manager for Five Rivers MetroParks. Mike gave a presentation entitled “The Great Miami Mitigation Bank-From Corn Fields to Wetlands.” Mike began his presentation with an explanation of what a mitigation bank is. This was followed by the realization, by Five Rivers MetroParks, that there existed a need for one, due to inqui-ries from various entities. He then talked about the search for a suit-able site for creation of a wetlands mitigation bank. A property that had been proposed to be converted to a landfill, but the rezoning of which had been turned down due to neigh-bors’ complaints, and was again on the market. He then talked about obtaining funding for the project and the actual acquisition of the property. The planning, construction and results were then illustrated in his presentation. A lively and engag-ing question and answer session then followed. In conjunction with his talk Mike led a hike at the Great Miami Mitigation Bank on Wednes-day, May 27, 2015 at 6:30 p.m.
—Richard Swigart
Birds We’ve Seen!Here are few photos of some birds
seen recently. We hope you have a chance to visit and likewise see these cool inhabitants.
At Siebenthaler Fen:
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Am
onPh
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by R
icha
rd S
wig
art
Cedar Waxwing
Redheaded Woodpecker
Blackbilled Cuckoo
At Fairborn Marsh:
See this newsletter in full color online at www.beavercreekwetlands.org 11
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 world-wide. Our newsletter recognizes the Spotted Turtle as an icon for the many rare animals and plants pro-tected in the Beaver Creek Wetlands.
Submissions, Questions, or Com-ments: We rely on members like you to make this newsletter the product of many diverse voices. If you have an idea for an article or a picture to include, please send them to [email protected] Also, we welcome any comments or questions. For submissions, ques-tions, or comments, please include “newsletter” in the subject line of your e-mail. We reserve the right to edit for content or clarity.
Change of Address/EmailMembers, please don’t forget to con-tact us if you move or change your email address: [email protected]. We want to ensure that you receive your issue of The Spotted Turtle!
Donations of Land/Easements: If you are interested in donating land, placing an easement on property, or remembering the BCWA in your will, please don’t hesitate to call the Beaver Creek Wetlands Association at (937) 320-9042.
BCWA Annual Report: Copies are available by request. E-mail the office at [email protected] or call (937) 320-9042.
Join the BCWA Today!
Choose your member level: $5 Student $10 Senior (60+) $15 Individual $25 Family
Please make your check payable to BCWA and mail to: BCWA, P.O. Box 42, Alpha, OH 45301
Name
Address
Phone
Help reclaim our local wetlands corridor and restore its natural beauty and function. Your member dues fund land acquisition, education programs, habitat restoration and management of our preserve.
$35 Contributing $50 Supporting $100 Patron $1,000 Life
A 501(c)(3) land trust organization. Your donation is tax deductible.
Endowment FundOur Endowment Fund has grown
to more than $201,063.57. A recent bequest was left in the form of a life annuity. Such planned giving can result in tax savings and/or income to you, while leaving a legacy of conservation.
The BCWA Endowment Fund is a permanent savings plan to help en-sure that BCWA continues to protect wetlands for future generations. The BCWA Endowment Fund may accept many types of planned, deferred, and outright gifts that can actually increase the value of your estate, enabling you to do more with what you leave for others.
Spotted Turtle Society mem-bers include anyone who has made a gift to the Beaver Creek Wetlands Association Endowment Fund.
I would like to learn more about gift options to help grow the Beaver Creek Wetlands Endowment Fund. Please contact me about planned giv-ing.
I have already included BCWA in my estate planning. I would like to be-come a member of the Spotted Turtle Society.
I wish to make an outright gift pay-able to ‘”BCWA Endowment Fund”.Please return to:Beaver Creek Wetlands AssociationAttn: Endowment CommitteeP.O.Box 42, Alpha, Ohio 45301
Planned Giving •
For information on a variety of planned giving options, call or write to us, or con-tact The Dayton Foundation directly.
Founded in 1988, the Mission of the Beaver Creek Wetlands Asso-ciation is to protect the wetland ecosystem in the Beaver Creek watershed through partner-ships, community networks, and public education.
Label (1” x 2-5/8” ) here.Place carefully to
cover bottom line completelybut do not touch top line.
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or email:[email protected]
NONPROFITORGANIZATION
U.S. POSTAGE PAIDXENIA, OHIO 45385
PERMIT NUMBER 76
The Spotted Turtle | Volume 29, No. 3 | Summer 2015
P.O. BOX 42ALPHA, OH 45301Address Service Requested
Spotted Turtle EditorsJim and Carol AmonSue RytelDeborah Karr
WebmasterRob Evans
Visit Us on Facebook & Onlinewww.beavercreekwetlands.org
Contact UsDeborah KarrAdministrative [email protected]
Technical [email protected]
OfficersJim Schneider, PresidentHitesh Trivedi, Vice PresidentRichard Swigart, SecretaryDoug Hull, TreasurerJim Amon, Technical Officer
TrusteesJim AmonNancy BainRoger (Skip) BeehlerRob EvansDonald GeigerLois GschwenderDenny JarviShannon MuellerJames RunkleSue RytelJim SchneiderRichard SwigartHitesh TrivediAlex ZellesMike Zimmerman
Published by Oregon Printingwww.oregonprinting.com
Seen in the Wetlands:Male Ebony Wing Damselfly
Phot
o by
Jim
Am
on
