Glen volunteer Vincent Laino helped to clear invasive honeysuckle from the Glen over the summer. (photo by Nikki Saadat)
Glen Helen welcomes volunteers to Honeysuckle Daze
- Published: November 12, 2014
In a year when Glen Helen is receiving significant grant funding from several agencies to clear invasive species from the historically sensitive preserve, Glen Helen Ecology Institute Director Nick Boutis hopes the preserve can capitalize on volunteer efforts to take the work even further. Most immediately, the Glen welcomes residents over 16 to help with this weekend’s annual Honeysuckle Daze on Saturday, Nov. 15, 9 a.m.–noon. This year’s team will work to clear five acres of honeysuckle from the north Glen at the height of its visibility behind the Yellow Spring. Volunteers can park at 1075 Rt. 343 and walk into the preserve with their cutters, draggers, sprayers and choppers. Participants are also asked to dress in weather dependent layers, wear boots and bring gloves and a water bottle. Those interested should RSVP to volunteer coordinator Ann Simonson at asimonson@glenhelen.org.
The 250 acres behind the spring has been registered as a National Natural Landmark with the U.S. Park Service since 1965. According to Boutis, the Glen has a $91,000 Clean Ohio grant to maintain the restoration of that area. The grant was furnished alongside the funds used to support the nearly $3 million easement held by TLT to permanently protect the entire Glen as a natural area. That easement is set to be finalized, hopefully by the end of the year, Magaw said. In addition the Glen recently received notice of a $70,000 from the Nature Conservancy for the restoration of the South Glen.
In addition, this year the Glen is partnering with Tecumseh Land Trust and the Village of Yellow Springs to apply for state funding to restore a six-acre Village property behind the Bryan Center and just upstream of the Glen. The a $56,000 grant from the Clean Ohio Fund would help purchase an easement on the property, which can seed invasive species in the Glen and is significant as the village’s northern gateway.
With the help of both grant funding and volunteers, the Glen has worked since 2001 to actively restore 200 acres of preserve land to native growth. According to Boutis, the Glen aims to use these land restoration grants to enhance the Herculean task of ridding the land of its tenacious but unwanted species. It’s fortunate that Honeysuckle Daze “comes at a time when we have real momentum behind invasive species removal,” he said.
Read more on this story in this week’s print edition of the Yellow Springs News.
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