Thanks to some hard-working Mill Creek MetroPark workers, several turtles have been rescued from abusive actions that threatened the reptiles’ lives.

Park officials reported on Facebook late last week that someone painted the shells of pet turtles before releasing them into the park’s Lily Pond.

Wildlife experts say turtles use their shells to regulate their body temperature and support their internal organs. Painting a turtle’s shell can disrupt this balance and cause several health problems, such as skin irritation, respiratory issues, and even death in extreme cases.

The chemicals in paint can also be toxic to turtles and can seep into their bodies through their skin, leading to poisoning and other health issues.

In addition, officials note that it is against park regulations to abandon any household pet or any other animal on park district land.

The park’s Natural Resources Manager and two members of the education staff went to work immediately on the tedious process of removing paint from the turtle’s shells.

The park posted a video of the paint removal and the return of the turtles to the pond on Facebook.

Suspicious activity may be reported to the Mill Creek MetroParks Police Office at 330-740-7102.

Read the original article and watch the video at WFMJ.

It was love at first sight when I visited Mill Creek Park for the first time. An active lifestyle led my husband and me to the park. We used the roads and trails as training for running and cycling. Then we realized there was far more to the park and began exploring more with our children.

Many children in the area, mine included, experienced Ford Nature Center on an educational field trip. My kids loved the nature center so much, we continued to visit as a family.

At the beginning of 2020, Ford Nature Center closed for renovations that would take many years and a large budget to complete. After a three-year and $4 million renovation project was completed, the Ford Nature Center reopened to the public on Earth Day, April 22.

The project had several goals, including preserving the historic and physical attributes of the manor house built in 1913. I have always admired the architecture of Youngstown. However, I didn’t realize the artistic vision featured in most of the buildings came from the same family.

Architectural masterminds
A father and son duo, Charles Henry Owsley and Charles Frederick Owsley were the masterminds behind many of the stately architectural masterpieces in Youngstown. Charles H. Owsley designed the Strouss-Hirshberg building on West Federal Street and the Dollar Bank Building on the central square, along with many other buildings in Youngstown and Warren built in the late 1800s and into the turn of the century.

His son, Charles F. Owsley, followed in his footsteps becoming an architect after graduating from the University of Pennsylvania in 1903 where he studied architecture in their prestigious program. The Owsley architecture firm left its biggest imprint on the city of Youngstown with the design of the Mahoning County Courthouse.

At the time, Youngstown was one of the leading steel-producing centers in the country. The large tax base provided for a new and modern courthouse. The building was dedicated in 1907.

Manor house
A few years later, Charles F. Owsley was commissioned for another project. He was to build a residence for C.S. Robinson, an executive at Youngstown Sheet & Tube. It was quite a shift from institutional buildings, but a challenge as well.

The first-class manor house was to be built on land that backed up to Mill Creek Park. The design of the house must allow it to blend into the natural setting. The natural beauty of the park and the building itself were to be cohesive and balanced, accentuating each other.

The pristine park setting combined with the gorgeous manor house were the perfect home environment for the Robinson family. Mr. and Mrs. Robinson lived in their home for about 40 years until they passed.

Gifted to park
The home was then purchased by Judge John W. Ford who did his part to cherish and care for the home and the grounds. Upon his passing in 1968, the home and property were donated by his children to Mill Creek Park.

The Park commissioners transitioned the house into a nature museum, a place for young and old to learn and grow in knowledge about the natural elements of the park. Children were also able to learn about the creatures who called Mill Creek Park home. The nature center quickly became a gathering space for nature enthusiasts and bird watchers.

Another goal of recent renovations was to enable further educational opportunities at the location. Expansion and reconfiguration of the interior spaces created space for educational opportunities and interactive exhibits. Improvements to the interior space also made it accessible for all people. Outside learning spaces were added where students can be immersed in nature.

When my son and I visited the Ford Nature Center for the first time after renovations, we did spend some time inside exploring the displays and bird-watching in the bird observation room. However, we spent most of our time outside.

Stunning

Walking up the steps from the parking lot, we noticed the rooftop garden. Looking at the native species in the lush garden, we could also see the native wildflower meadow stretching out below us on the property. Sedges, alliums and bulbs in the rooftop garden will attract pollinators while simultaneously absorbing rainwater and reducing stormwater runoff. We sat for a few minutes in the rocking chairs, enjoying the soft breeze and listening to the birds at the birdfeeders.

We started exploring the grounds by taking the Axtman Trail for All People. The 0.1-mile paved trail weaves through the wooded habitat surrounding the nature center. We passed by Virginia bluebells as we enjoyed the warmth of the sunshine filtering through the freshly opened leaf canopy above us. I can’t emphasize it enough — the property is stunning.

Halfway along the trail, we meandered off the paved trail further into the woods. Ramps and garlic mustard were growing among fallen branches and leaf debris. Like most kids when they reach wide-open spaces, my son was off balancing on rocks, tree stumps and decomposing trees.

As I stood in the middle of the forest with the stately Ford Nature Center behind me, I couldn’t help but think, “I can’t believe this is Youngstown.”

With a soft breeze blowing through the valley and a bluejay darting from tree to tree, I realized nature and nature education is the heart of Youngstown, where the past is preserved, the present is enjoyed and the future is bright.

Read the original article at Farm and Dairy.

After picking up a small fishing rod and line, Nico Rogers didn’t catch any trout or bass, but he did reel in much excitement and anticipation.

“I think it’s amazing and extraordinary,” Nico, 9, of Boardman, said. “You can teach kids about nature. It feels great because there are so many new things, and things to experiment with.”

The Boardman Center Middle School student was referring to the reopened Ford Nature Center on Old Furnace Road in Mill Creek Park, which was the site of a ribbon-cutting ceremony and open house Saturday.

The event also coincided with Earth Day.

The stately building, which was constructed in 1913 and became a nature center in the early 1970s, closed in February 2020 to undergo about $4 million in renovations — work that was ongoing through the COVID-19 pandemic.

Many of the changes and additions left an impression on Nico, whose regular interactions with the park include playing sports and birdwatching.

“What a gift to give to the community,” the boy’s mother, Melissa Rogers, said.

In addition to adding new features, a top priority of the project was to rehabilitate and preserve many of the original historic and architectural components, Justin Rogers, the park’s planning and operations director, noted.

Rogers also is Nico’s father.

New portions include a large, bright and airy exhibition hall on the lowest level, two multi-use classrooms in the education building next door and a rooftop garden, Justin Rogers explained. The renovations also entail a history room, a gift shop, two outdoor classrooms, the paved Axtman Trail and a new conference room and offices for teachers and staff to plan educational programs.

Rogers also thanked the hundreds of people who donated money, time and talents to the project.

“We’re thrilled to have it finally finished and have it be an asset to the community for generations to come,” Aaron Young, Mill Creek MetroParks’ executive director, said.

Young noted that $3 million of the $4 million for the project came from private philanthropy, and the rest from Mill Creek MetroParks.

The exhibition hall area, which looks out onto a wildflower meadow and hiking trails, features an array of high-tech, interactive exhibits and poster boards that include information on different native trees, the wetlands area, the Mill Creek Watershed and park geology. Also in the room is an exhibit about Volney Rogers, the well-known lawyer who was pivotal in transforming the park in the late 1800s.

Adding to the overall greenery is the Green Roof Plaza, which has a square garden filled with small-leafed succulents and sedums, hydrangeas and rhizomes, and requires little maintenance. The garden was carefully crafted with rubber layers for additional protection and needs proper drainage, Brian Keith, the park’s operations supervisor, explained.

The square plot also is a microcosm of the Living Roof, a 454,000-square-foot drought-resistant garden atop the Ford Motor Co.’s Rouge Center in Dearborn, Mich., Keith noted.

“To me, it’s just a place for relaxation,” Nancy Brundage said about Nancy’s Nook, a small window-filled room that overlooks a few hiking trails as well as the wildflower meadow and several bird feeders and boxes at the rear of the nature center.

The space was named in honor of Brundage, who was one of the nature center project’s initial donors and who began volunteering for the park in the mid-1980s. For 27 years, she has conducted bird and nature walks; her volunteer efforts also have included booking school groups and answering calls, and she still serves as a volunteer naturalist, Brundage said.

Also happy with the reopening was Eric Cromwell of Poland, who worked three or four years as an attendant at the original Ford Nature Center.

“I’m glad to see they kept a lot of the historical nature of the house,” said Cromwell, who earned a degree in natural resources from Hocking College in Nelsonville.

Also on hand Saturday was Ed Komara, who runs a traveling reptile educational program called Komara Outdoors. Komara had in one of the indoor classrooms an exhibit that included a 120-pound alligator snapping turtle, a leopard tortoise and other animals.

“I came here as a kid to learn about nature and I wanted her to learn about nature,” Eric Cappy of Boardman said, referring to his daughter Ariana McCall-Cappy, 7, who was intrigued by the reptiles.

Read the original article at The Vindicator.

With spring just around the corner, it’s time to start thinking about getting your gardens ready for the season.

Brian Keith, operation supervisor at Fellows Riverside Gardens, said now is a good time to begin prepping your outdoor areas. This includes cleaning up garden beds, leaves, sticks and any debris that’s been sitting over winter.

It’s also a good time to start preparing and decompacting soil and mixing in compost, but certain kinds may be better than others.

“Organic compost. A lot of suppliers around here carry what’s called leaf compost, stuff like that. That’s one of the best things you can till into your soil, especially if you are doing a vegetable garden,” Keith said.

He says it’s still too cold to plant outside, but some vegetables can be planted indoors now and transplanted later.

Read the original article at WKBN.

Nick Derico, natural resources manager for the Mill Creek MetroParks, told about 70 people attending Monday’s MetroParks Board meeting that he is proposing the park board carry out a deer removal program under the Ohio Department of Natural Resource Division of Wildlife.

One part would be “controlled hunting” and would involve hunting at “select MetroParks regional facilities throughout the county where it is deemed safe and appropriate.”

That type of deer reduction would involve “select hunters through a random lottery system conducted by the ODNR Division of Wildlife,” the MetroParks said in a press release given to reporters Monday.

Another part would be a “targeted removal program” that would happen at “select MetroParks facilities where controlled hunting is not deemed feasible due to safety concerns,” the MetroParks statement said.

That type of deer reduction would involve “professional marksmen” in partnership with the U.S. Department of Agriculture.

The more than two-hour meeting included 40 minutes of information on the proposed deer reduction program and about 90 minutes of public participation with each person getting three minutes to speak.

The statements during the public-comment period suggested that most of the public does not want to see the number of deer reduced. Many said they believe the park has far fewer than 387 deer per square mile.

Lee Frey, MetroParks Board president, said the board will vote on whether to implement the program at the 6 p.m. April 10 board meeting at the MetroParks Farm in Canfield, where Monday’s meeting took place.

The goal of the program would be to reduce the deer populations to within recommended densities and to restore plant life previously damaged by the “over browsing and other negative impacts associated with an overabundance of white-tailed deer,” the parks system states.

Derico and Aaron Young, MetroParks executive director, have said that the park district has an average of 387 white-tailed deer per square mile in the park system. The number is 355 deer per square mile in Mill Creek Park, which occupies land from Fellows Riverside Gardens to U.S. Route 224.

They have said the data came from an aerial survey carried out in on two dates in early January 2022.

Among the most passionate speakers was Pearl Sinistro, who told the park board members to “listen to the taxpayers. We pay you, our tax dollars.”

“We love the animals. They’re harmless. They’re timid. They don’t do anything. They come in the yard. We feed them.”

She said people who complain that the deer eat their flowers should move to the city.

She said it’s wrong to “blacktop everything” because it shows no respect for nature.

Kathy Maine spoke with emotion about her attachment to specific deer and the deer in general.

“With the ugliness in this world, the wars, the killings, the bombings, why can’t we have something God given that is so beautiful and so heavenly,” she said. “Life is so short. We don’t need to make it shorter for those beautiful deer.”

Michael Colyer said he has gone to Mill Creek Park after work to spend time in nature.

“We need to preserve the whole fauna and protect the trees that protect the birds and everything else. The deer eat all of our gum trees,” he said.

Read the original article at The Vindicator.