Conservation & Vegetation Management Volunteers
In order to preserve and maintain the beauty and diversity of our parks, we have volunteers who dedicate many hours of their time to removing non-native invasive plants such as garlic mustard, teasel, autumn olive, multiflora rose, Japanese knotweed and callery pear. Others volunteers monitor butterfly trails, bluebird box trails, conduct bat or wildflower surveys or coordinate efforts to control the white-tailed deer population and still others gear up for prescribed fire events in our prairie areas. The various groups/projects with their steadfast volunteers are as follows:
Bat Survey
Miriam Dean-Otting, Charlie Otting, Carol Detmer and Stan Holmes
Bluebird Trail Monitors
Lori & Tim Cook, Marcia Crim, Judith Crouse, Susan Guttormsen, Christopher Hawthorne, Dorothea Hawthorne, Nancy Kephart, Mary Knutty, Lana Runyan and Jean Tahyi
Butterfly Planting at Wolf Run
Janet Chandler, Marcia Crim, Susan Forsythe, Miriam Dean-Otting
Long-term Butterfly Trail Monitoring Project
Janet Chandler, Marcia Crim, Judith Crouse, Susan Guttormsen (Coordinator), Terri Heironimus, Nancy Kephart, Miriam Dean-Otting, Beth Waller
Controlled Bow Hunt Coordinators
John Alberts and Mike Patterson
Friends of the Woods
Janet Chandler, Marcia Crim, Judith Crouse, Miriam Dean-Otting, Heather Griffith, Susan Guttormsen, Sue Hagen, Mark Harrell, Terri Heironimus, Nancy Kephart, Laura Letizia, Mike Petee, Jarod Ronai & students, Laurie Thompson, Beth Waller, Lisa Williams
Ohio Natural Areas and Preserves Association
Jennifer Windus (coordinator) and the many state-wide volunteers who have helped to remove woody, non-native invasive vegetation from the Park District properties
Prescribed Fire - Fire Break Signs
Marcia Crim and Susan Guttormsen
Prescribed Fire
Dave Beck, Barry Bowden, Maddi Brown, Guy Denny, Emilee Hardesty, Dave Heithaus, Shane McGuire, Doug McLarnan, Alexys Nolan, Jake Peer, Lydia Radcliffe, Livia Raulinaitis, Darrel Severns, Elliot Smith, Stacy Sullins, Terry Totman, John Watts, Jennifer Windus (Prescribed Fire Manager), Cody Wright and the Eastern Knox County Joint Fire District (Chief Larry Stimpert) and the Monroe Township Fire Department (Captain Aaron Holcomb, Alan Hackman) and the Mount Vernon City Fire Department (Chief Chad Christopher)
Wildflower Survey
John Bossley, Janet Chandler (Coordinator), Judith Crouse, Susan Guttormsen, Laura Letizia, Kathy Noblet, Miriam Dean-Otting, Laurie Thompson, Jean Tahyi, Beth Waller
There are not enough words to adequately communicate the gratitude of the Park District for the many hours these volunteers have devoted to the cause of preserving our properties and the flora and fauna they contain for future generations. A sincere thank you to each one!
