Volunteer Voices of NRM

 

 

Part of Geauga Park District’s success is due to dedicated volunteers, such as Frank Stehli, Patti Cook, John Swaney, Bill Dreimiller and others, who assist its Natural Resource Management team. With their help and donor support, your Park District is monitoring critical species at minimal cost.

Frank Stehli

Dr. Frank Stehli likes to get things done. During 25 years as a researcher and university professor, including 12 years as chair of the Department of Earth Sciences at Case Western Reserve University, Dr. Stehli has been engaged in research with leading scientists on every continent except Antarctica. Upon his retirement, other local park systems wanted him to assist with visitor education, but Dr. Stehli prefers to be out in the woods gathering data and finding answers. Fortunately for Geauga Park District, he chose to work alongside Park Biologist Paul Pira to continue to study the natural world and to assist with research in a meaningful and useful way. 

During the last six years, Frank has worked on projects for the Park District such as reforestation of chestnut and hemlock trees, stream monitoring, small mammal surveys and bluebird management. Frank enjoys conducting research on mammals because as a teenager he used to collect small mammals and painstakingly preserve them for displays at the American Museum of Natural History in New York. Small mammals are at the bottom of the food chain and, as such, are important indicators of forest health.

Dr. Stehli and his wife Irene have donated to the Geauga Park District Foundation since 1997. When they moved to Geauga County in 1960, it was much different than it is today. In fact, when the Stehli children went to school in Bainbridge Township, there were children who drove tractors to school! Because the landscape has evolved so dramatically, it has been very important to them to support Geauga Park District’s work to preserve land now while it is still available.\

The Stehlis also like that Geauga Park District educates young people about the environment, and gets kids excited about science. In Frank’s words, “It’s important to teach today’s children to love nature, because there is less nature around.”

Patti Cook

Baby bluebirds don't speak English. Trees have no language that we can grasp. A wetland cannot shout to us that it's in trouble. We have to learn to listen for the voices of nature. And then, when we hear them, we have to act.

Meet Patti Cook. For more than 20 years Patti has listened, heard, and acted. Conservation of nature is a passion she feels so strongly about that she had donated more than 800 hours of her time to the Park District as of 2009. Every spring, Patti heads out to the parks to monitor cavity-nesting birds such as Eastern Bluebirds and tree swallows. Why is this information important? Because fluctuations in a bird species might mean something else is out of balance - it could be an early warning alarm that can’t go unchecked.

Geauga Park District is made up of people who care about that alarm and what it might mean. The citizens of this county continue to make it a priority to conserve what they hold dear. We hear your voice and act. Data from volunteers helps us and organizations such as the Cornell Lab of Ornithology and the Ohio Bluebird Society keep track of bird populations.

But you don't have to tell Patti about action. For decades, she, our dedicated corps of volunteers, and our staff have been listening, hearing, and working on what's important to you and your family. "Hopefully, as other people come to understand the natural resources around them better, they will be motivated to join in the continuing efforts to conserve them," she said.

Conservation. If you're quiet enough, you can hear that word in the voice of a newborn bluebird, or in the rustling of a
tree’s leaves... Patti Cook hears it everywhere, and it's a voice that calls her to action.

John Swaney

"After moving to Geauga County in 1999, my wife, Deanna, and I first began to explore the trails at Headwaters Park. We took our dog there many times and were in awe of how peaceful it was there. Soon after, we noticed construction of a new park on Route 87. We 'snuck' back there, despite the signs, to take a peek. I assured my wife it was OK, as I am a construction project manager (in real life) and I told her, 'They want you to look. That is why they put the signs up!' She knew that was hogwash, but snuck in with me anyway. When The West Woods was complete, we were so glad that we were part of a community that cares enough to preserve as much of the natural world as possible.

"Well, it was my wife that began volunteering. She combined her love of running with that of the Trailgator volunteer program. She managed to incorporate her marathon training with keeping Pioneer Trail clear of weeds by carrying her brush clippers with her as she ran (which takes the whole 'don’t run with scissors' to another level). That in itself was odd, because she never clipped weeds at home. Anyway, that’s another story.

"When she passed away in 2007, I stopped visiting the trails that we walked together. Then one day Holly Sauder, knowing my interest in snakes, contacted me and asked whether I would be interested in helping out with a snake survey. Although it was in a different capacity, it was still difficult stepping into the volunteer 'shoes' to which Deanna gave her time. But knowing how she felt about the Geauga Park District, I felt I should help somehow - so now when I go out to check on the snake coverboards, I have Deanna’s Park District nametag in my pocket.

"Now, I am glad that I did. I hope the work that Bill Schwing (another GPD snake surveyor) and I are conducting will provide Tami Gingrich and the Geauga Park District with valuable information."

William Schwing

"While counting snakes may sound like a nightmare for most people, for volunteers with the Geauga Park District, capturing these reptiles is a unique opportunity to learn more about local wildlife. Once a week, John Swaney and I brave mosquitoes and poison ivy to see what may be hiding under boards provided by Field Naturalist Tami Gingrich.  We carefully capture the snakes, identify the species, record the snake’s length and weight and then return the snakes unharmed under the boards.

"Geauga Park District offers an opportunity for everyone to connect with nature. For many of us, an interest in nature is something we develop in our formative years. My mother tells me my first word was 'horse,' and we didn’t even live on a farm! I cannot remember a time when I was not interested in the outdoors. As a child I was always bringing home frogs and snakes captured in the local ponds. In our neighborhood the sight of me walking down the street clutching some hapless reptile or amphibian was common. Fortunately I had parents that recognized this as a genuine interest and encouraged my pursuits. And one can tell it is genuine by the fact I am still at it 40 years later!

Eastern Garter Snake

"Of course you may wonder; why count snakes at all? The purpose of the survey is to follow snake populations at a site and see if they change over time. A difference in numbers could reflect environmental trends such as availability of food, change in weather and impact of human activity.

"Through this study and others like it, Geauga Park District evaluates the impact of various factors on wildlife populations and uses this information to decide how to develop a park. But for those of us that volunteer on the survey, it is not all science and hard work. Standing on a hillside on a perfect summer day, watching butterflies float over a field to land on waiting flowers, we have a chance to connect with the natural world, and that is reward enough."

BioBlitz

Click here to see photos and results from the BioBlitz of 2011.

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