Organization: Great Parks of Hamilton County

Wed 3/27, 6-9 p.m.

Are you interested in the environment, nature education, outdoor recreation or customer service? All play an important role in connecting people with nature, and you can too. Join us for a Volunteer Orientation to learn about the many ways you can can get involved. For ages 18 and up. Winton Woods/Winton Center (Free, register by 3/25)

Learn more and RSVP here!

Organization: Working in Neighborhoods

March 23, 2019: 9:00am - 11:00am

Join us as we prepare the garden for the upcoming season. We'll be breaking and removing rocks from a portion of our space to prepare for new projects! Also general clean up including; weeding around fruit trees and berry bushes and picking up trash. Bring work gloves and water.

After the clean up Join us at 1814 Dreman Ave for our 2nd seed starting workshop at 11:30 am!

Learn more and RSVP here!

Organization: Civic Garden Center

All candidates must attend one of the following training:

If you have any questions, contact Jenn Bakes: jbakes@civicgardencenter.org

Organization: Civic Garden Center

All volunteer candidates must attend the following training:

Tuesday, March 12th, 10 am - 12 pm

If you have any questions, contact Jenn Bakes: jbakes@civicgardencenter.org

Organization: Civic Garden Center

Many of Cincinnati's green spaces are overrun with invasive plants. As more and more ash trees come down, thinning our tree canopy, there is increasingly more room for invasive species (Japanese honeysuckle, Japanese knotweed, Garlic Mustard) to take over and exclude our native plants and animals.Therefore, we are kicking off this reforestation project to save and protect Cincinnati's green spaces.

The first space we're focusing on is Walnut Woods, a 10-acre property adjacent to Walnut Hills High School. We will be restoring it in collaboration with Walnut Hills High School, Cincinnati Parks, the Evanston Community and more. This will be an ongoing project, and we could use your help! Our next workday is:

Saturday, March 16th:

Invasive Removal Workday at Walnut Woods, located off of Sulsar at 3250 Victory Pkwy, Cincinnati, OH 45207 (Walnut Hills High School), from 9am-12pm. 

If you have any questions, contact Jenn Bakes: jbakes@civicgardencenter.org

Organization: Civic Garden Center

Friday Workdays: Every Friday, we work from 9:00 am - 11:30 am at a different community garden. We always meet at the garden (addresses posted), and encourage participants to wear long pants & sleeves, and bring water. The upcoming dates are: 

• March 15th: Julie Hanser Community Garden (located at 2627 Stanton Ave, Cincinnati, OH 45204)
• March 22nd: Pendleton School Garden (located at 406-410 East 13th Street, Cincinnati OH 45210)
• March 29th: Concord Street Community Garden (located at 2400 Concord St, Cincinnati, OH 45206)

Saturday Workdays: Similar to Fridays, but twice a month at different gardens. The next opportunities are: 

• March 9th: Workday at Madisonville Foraging Garden(located at Redbank (4000 Block), Bortherton & Erie, Cincinnati, OH 45227), from 10am-1pm
• March 23rd: Workday at South Cumminsville Community Garden

  (located at 3618 Roll Ave, Cincinnati, OH 45223), from 9-11:30am

If you have any questions, contact Jenn Bakes: jbakes@civicgardencenter.org 

Organization: Ohio Valley Forestry Fellowship

When: Wed, April 3, 2019 from 6:00 pm – 8:00 pm

Where: Technical Facility, 377 Sheffield Rd., Cincinnati, Ohio 45240

For Earth Day we are distributing 3,500 trees to elementary students throughout Hamilton County. We need your help to bag and pack the trees for distribution. Join us for free pizza, talk trees with us and help us to inspire the next generation of tree stewards! Volunteers can also take home a free tree seedling! We would like to thank our generous donor for the trees and pizza, Taking Root, Hamilton County Parks, Rapid Mortgage for refreshments and you all for volunteering!

For questions contact OVFF President: Tom Boeing at 513-582-4100 or ovfftrees@gmail.com.

Sign up here!

Organization: Ohio Valley Forestry Fellowship

March 20, 7:00-9:00 PM: The Forestry Fellowship and the Federated Garden Clubs of Greater Cincinnati are teaming up again to count, bag and box 4,000 Bald Cypress tree seedlings for our annual Spring giveaway thru the Public Libraries and other groups. As always, we are counting on you, so please lend a hand! Let’s work together to help kids discover the rewards of planting trees! Extra seedlings and species are available for volunteers.

For larger orders, call or e-mail: 513 582-4100 or ovfftrees@gmail.com

Organization: Western Wildlife Corridor

The typical WWC habitat restoration project looks like this. Everyone meets at the designated time and place. The group size can vary, say from 5 – 30 people. The WWC project leader (also a volunteer) gathers the group together, passes out a few spray bottles of diluted glyphosate (a herbicide) and some hand tools, and then the group walks from the meeting area into the woods (typically a 5-10 minute walk). The project leader will explain details of the project, for example what types of plants are being removed, and where in the preserve to work. Then the group splits into smaller teams, and begins working. Often we work to remove Amur honeysuckle (Lonicera maackii), a highly invasive alien plant species. This is done by cutting the honeysuckle as close to the ground as possible (with a saw or loppers), and then quickly treating the stump with glyphosate. The chopped honeysuckle branches are dragged to piles, where they will slowly decompose. See upcoming events below! You can find more details about WWC Habitat Restoration events in the FAQ section of this newsletter. 

Leaders: John 513.304.2310 and Ed 513.919.5186.

Kirby Nature Center - 2 East Main Street, Addyston, Ohio 45001 - just off River Road. To get there from north and east of Addyston, go west on Cleves Warsaw into Addyston, where the name changes to Main Street. Continue past South Road - there is a storage building on the corner on the right, then a stone wall with an opening for a driveway flanked by large stone pillars. Turn in the driveway - this is it!

Leaders: Jeff 513.451.1737 and Bob 513.251.5352.

Bender Mountain Nature Preserve - gravel parking area on Bender Road about half mile from Hillside Avenue.

Organization: Cincinnati Zoo & Botanical Garden

Join the Zoo to make a positive change in our community! This program offers opportunities for adults, families, and small groups to volunteer for a few hours at a time to participate in hands-on wildlife conservation efforts spearheaded by the Zoo and our community partners. Join us in environmental stewardship and learn new skills, build relationships with others, and have fun! All participants under the age of 18 must be accompanied by an adult.

Participate in group conservation activities organized by Zoo staff and our community partners, such as:

• Collecting and contributing data to local and global citizen science projects such as BeeSpotter, Great Backyard Bird Count, FrogWatch, and MonarchWatch
• Restoring and maintaining natural habitats, e.g. planting trees, creating pollinator gardens, removing invasive plant species
• Cleaning up our natural areas, e.g. river and park clean ups
• Make our spaces more wildlife-friendly places, e.g. building bird and bat houses
• Educating and encouraging ourselves and others to conserve natural resources, e.g. participating in Earth Day booth
• And more!

Click here to learn more and get involved! If you have questions, email CommunityService@CincinnatiZoo.org or contact Shasta Bray at 513-487-3325 or Shasta.Bray@CincinnatiZoo.org.