Spotlight on woods, water, wildlife

The annual Ohio Woodland, Water, and Wildlife Conference is for you if you work in natural resources, manage land, or both. The agenda features 15 expert-led sessions grouped in three tracks—woodlands, water, and wildlife—and is set for March 6 in Mansfield. Topics in the tracks range from managing tree galls to using drones, mitigating algal blooms to managing geese, conserving birds to helping bumble bees. Check out the full list of topics and speakers.

Continue reading

‘We grow food for the neighborhood’

“Urban agriculture and local food production are a growing phenomenon for several reasons, including to address food insecurity, as a means for an economic enterprise, for community building, and as job training for young people and others.”

That’s Mike Hogan, educator in the Franklin County office of OSU Extension, CFAES’ statewide outreach arm, quoted in a recent article by Tracy Turner, a writer with CFAES, on our CFAES Stories website. (Hogan recently received the Ohio Ecological Food and Farm Association’s 2019 Service Award.)

Called “Urban Agriculture in Ohio,” the article looks at how OSU Extension is helping farmers in Cleveland and Columbus.

“Our mission is simple,” one of the growers said in the article. “We grow food for the neighborhood.”

Check it out. (Photo: Getty Images.)

Set course for an evening on water

The annual Evening with Ohio Sea Grant and Stone Laboratory benefit event is set for Wednesday, Feb. 27, in Columbus. The two affiliated programs—Ohio Sea Grant is based at Ohio State; Stone Lab, located at Put-in-Bay on Lake Erie, is part of CFAES—conduct research, teaching, and outreach aimed at helping Lake Erie and water quality.

The event will feature a silent auction and the sale of Stone Lab merchandise, with the proceeds going to support student scholarships; and presentations by some of the faculty, staff, and students from the programs (such as CFAES student researcher Harrison Fried).

Admission is free and open to the public, but you’re encouraged to RSVP.

Find out more. (Photo: Stone Lab’s R/V Bio-Lab at Lake Erie, by Daniel Combs, Ohio Sea Grant, via Flickr.)

Good timing, what with spring on its way

Learn about managing your woods, along with the legalities of it, in Your Woodland Management Options and Legal Responsibilities, an upcoming workshop offered by CFAES’ Ohio Woodland Stewards Program. It’s from 6–8:30 p.m. Feb. 28 in Bucyrus.

The goal, the workshop’s website says, is “to help woodland owners become better managers of this important asset.”

Speaking will be Kathy Smith, forestry program director in CFAES’ School of Environment and Natural Resources, and Evin Bachelor, J.D., law fellow with the Farm Office of OSU Extension, CFAES’ statewide outreach arm.

Registration is $15 and is due by Feb. 25. Learn more and register online. (Photo: Getty Images.)

Register for Tri-State Water Quality Discussion

Chris Winslow, director of the Ohio State-based Ohio Sea Grant program and CFAES’ Stone Laboratory, will present “Nutrient Management Effects on Lake Erie” at State of the Lake: A Tri-State Water Quality Discussion, set for 5–8 p.m. Feb. 26 in Hillsdale, Michigan. Registration is $20, which includes dinner and resources, and is due by Friday, Feb. 22.

Also speaking at the event will be Extension educators from the tri-state area—Ohio, Michigan, and Indiana—who the event flyer says “will cover topics related to agriculture and nutrient management, including cover crops, the new Tri-State Fertility Guide, and fine-tuning a nutrient management plan.” Continuing education credits are available. Find out more and register.

Organizers of the event are Michigan State University Extension, Purdue Extension, and CFAES’ Ohio State University Extension outreach arm.

Hillsdale is about 75 miles west-northwest of Toledo, Ohio.

We want … sustainable shrubbery

CFAES’ Secrest Arboretum in Wooster will give a Shrubs for the Landscape workshop from 9:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. Feb. 22. The event, its website says, will cover “the many kinds of shrubs and how to combine them for beautiful, sustainable landscapes.”

Registration is $40 for members of the Friends of Secrest Arboretum and $45 for nonmembers.

Find out more. (Photo: Rhododendron, Getty Images.)