The Little Cities of the Forest Collaborative concluded its first full year of activity with the change of the year. We thank the Ohio Environmental Education Fund for their support in getting the Collaborative off the ground.
We are now operating on our own without grant support. The member organizations of the Little Cities of the Forest Collaborative are committed to continue this web page and the Words from the Woods newsletter, so keep looking for us here on the web and in print at local stores, libraries and tourism destinations. We would like our fellow citizens in the Little Cities microregion to let us know what they think about the web page and the newsletter and share any ideas they have about its content in the future. E-mail Dana White at drwhite51@verizon.net with your comments, or give him a call at 740-394-2008.

The intent of the LCF Collaborative is to promote recreation, restoration and environmental education in the natural environment where we live, the Little Cities microregion. This area covers the entirety of the land that makes up the Trimble Local, Southern Local and Nelsonville-York Local School Districts as well as portions of the Logan-Hocking, Athens City, and Morgan Local School Districts. Once the booming Hocking Valley Coal Fields, this area now is home to Ohio’s only National Forest, the Wayne National Forest. In addition to the Wayne National Forest, the Collaborative is made up of representatives from the Monday Creek Restoration Project, the Sunday Creek Watershed Group, the North Country Trail Association (aka Buckeye Trail), and Sunday Creek Associates/Little Cities of Black Diamonds Council. We gather once a month to plan projects that enhance the natural environment of our area.

Since its inception the Collaborative has taken on projects to help “interpret” the natural areas of our microregion, building informational kiosks at three locations along the Buckeye Trail/North Country Trail with the help of students at Miller High School; hosting Summer Talks at the Cave at Robinson’s Cave in New Straitsville; sharing information with area teachers on guided tours of the region; and hosting an Outdoor Adventure Day for youth at Tecumseh Lake. In the first half of 2009 we will build a new kiosk at the Rutherford Wetlands near Carbon Hill and develop an interpretive site at a high point on Irish Ridge Road known as the Monroe Outlook. We will install interpretive signs explaining the Corning Discharge at the John Altier Park where Acid Mine Drainage is discharged from an underground mine and at the Essex Doser between Murray City and New Straitsville where Acid Mine Drainage is treated. We will publish a book of Miller art student photos featuring the many wildflowers found in our region. We will also be working with the Ohio Division of Forestry to conduct a survey on invasive plants that our taking over our roadsides, forests and fields, crowding out long-enjoyed wildflowers and vegetation native to our area.

Although the Collaborative is made up of persons working in organizations that care about our region, we also welcome the input and involvement of everyday citizens. If you are interested in becoming involved, let us know. There are many ways you can help, ranging from clean up days in watersheds and building trails, to being a tour guide for visitors to our region. Our vision is for the nature that surrounds us to be an important part of where we live…. to be enjoyed….to be taken care of…..to be shared with visitors in careful ways…. to be a source of pride for those of us who live here. Please visit us here to keep abreast of activities of the Collaborative and link to other projects and organizations of interest.

May 27, 2009
Sunday Creek Monthly Public Meeting
6:30pm - At Sunday Creek Office in Glouster