Toledo Symphony September Events

The Toledo Symphony concert season beings this weekend. The season starts with the annual concert at Put-in-Bay on Saturday, and the first Chamber Series concert on Sunday at the Toledo Club followed by the Classics opener at the end of the month.

This free concert at Put-in-Bay is an annual favorite. Chelsea Tipton II conducts well known pieces concert under the Perry Monument. Favorites to look forward to are Tchaikovsky’s 1812 Overture, and Mendelssohn’s Nocturne from Midsummer Night’s Dream. The concert is this Saturday, September 12th at 6:30pm.

The Toledo Blade Chamber Series begins on Sunday, September 13th at 7pm with music from Mozart, Wilder, and Beethoven. The Centennial Room at the Toledo Club is an intimate atmosphere, putting you just feet away from the musicians.

The Classic Series opens up on Friday and Saturday, September 25th and 26th with Mahler’s Third Symphony. Principal conductor Stefan Sanderling leads the Symphony along with the Bowling Green State University Women’s Chorus, the Junior Choral Society of Northwest Ohio, and mezzo-soprano Suzanna Guzman. Both nights are performed at the Toledo Museum of Art Peristyle at 8pm.

Tickets for any Toledo Symphony concert can be purchased by calling the box office at 419-246-8000, or by ordering on line at www.toledosymphony.com. Subscriptions and single tickets are on sale now. Don’t miss out on the sure-to-sell out performances of Handel’s Messiah, Jamie Farr narrates the Planets, and Rhapsody in Blue featuring Kirill Gerstein.

Beast of a Garage Sale to be held by Nature's Nursey

Nature’s Nursery will host its 2nd Annual “Beast of a Garage Sale” Sept. 24-26 at the Lucas County Fairgrounds on Key Street in Maumee.

Donated items are tax-deductible and may be dropped off Sept. 21 and 22 from 10 am to 7 pm, and Sept. 23 from 10 am to 4 pm. Sale hours are Sept. 24 and 25 from 9 am to 6 pm, and Sept. 26 from 9 am to 1 pm.

All proceeds benefit Nature’s Nursery, a nonprofit wildlife rehabilitation and conservation education organization serving northwest Ohio. For more information, call 419-877-0060 or log onto www.natures-nursery.org.

Buckeye Forest Council Fall Forest Fundraiser

In via e-mail:

Buckeye Forest Council Fall Forest Fundraiser


We are excited to let you know about an amazing opportunity for you and for Buckeye Forest Council. We are planning the First Annual Fall Forest Fundraiser on Saturday October 17th at First UU Church of Columbus in Columbus, Ohio. Please put this on your calendar now and look for more information in the near future.

6:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m. Saturday October 17th, 2009

First UU Church of Columbus, 93 West Weisheimer Rd, Columbus, OH 43214

Frogtown Fair this Saturday...

Frogtown Fair is this weekend, some highlights from 2008:

2008 Event Highlights

* An estimated 1500 people visited the Civic Center Promenade to view 36 exhibits by green businesses, organizations and agencies and participate in 11 activities for the young and young at heart.

* Twenty-six participants joined two tours of the Toledo Division of Environmental Services’ rain barrel and rain garden demonstration projects, and approximately 50 visitors enjoyed a recycled fashion show by the advanced modeling students from John Casablancas.

* Volunteers distributed 1000 reusuable grocery bags donated by Kroger and Meijer. Each bag was marked by a Frogtown Fair logo sticker printed by Metzgers Printing and Mailing, Toledo’s first Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) certified “green printer.”
* American Rivers and the Toledo Stormwater Program distributed 97 preordered New England Rain Barrels and sold an additional 31 during the Frogtown Fair.

* The Gas Cap Testing and Replacement Program sponsored by the Toledo Division of Environmental Services Air Section and TMACOG tested a total of 111 vehicles. Of those tested, there were 8 failures, which resulted in the elimination of 1,592 lbs of evaporative emissions annually. The replaced gas caps are also responsible for saving each driver about 2 tanks of gas per year.

* The Mercury Pollution Prevention Partnership exchanged 56 mercury thermometers for safer digital ones. Funds for the purchase of the digital thermometers were supplied by Sam’s Club and as a supplemental environmental project by Canberra Corporation. Three thermostats and a vial (4 ml) containing elemental mercury were also collected during the Fair.

* The Lucas County Solid Waste Management District’s Specialty Waste Program removed the following household hazardous wastes from the waste stream: 392 lbs of alkaline batteries, 50 lbs of nickel-cadmium batteries, 15 lbs of lead acid batteries, 13 lbs of lithium batteries (total of approximately 5000 batteries), 27 lbs of compact fluorescent light bulbs (35 bulbs), 21 lbs of 4-ft fluorescent bulbs (30 bulbs) and 12 lbs of 8-ft fluorescent bulbs (8 bulbs).

* Affinity Information Management shredded 1500 lbs of documents and collected 10,000 lbs of electronics. All of the electronics collected will be recycled and disposed of in an environmentally responsible manner, keeping them out of landfills. Consumer electronics contribute 40 percent of the lead and about 70 percent of the heavy metals found in landfills.

* 288 participants completed exit surveys. From the surveys, it is quite clear that this event was needed in our community and was considered long overdue.
o 96% of the survey responders indicated that they were “very satisfied” or “satisfied” with the Fair.
o 65% of the responders participated in viewing the exhibits by green businesses, organizations and agencies.
o 52% participated in the three major recycling activities (21% in household battery and fluorescent light bulb recycling, 20% in secure document shredding and e-waste recycling and 11% in the mercury thermometer exchange).
o 63% expressed a need for how-to-workshops to go hand in hand with the promoted ideas.
* The survey also showed that visitors appreciated that the location of the
Fair brought people downtown and that the Farmers Market acted as an
extension of the green living theme of the event.

How safe are Ohio's beaches?

This in via email from Environment Ohio:

New Report Shows Ohio's Beaches are Threatened with Pollution:

For another year, Ohio ranks 2nd in the nation for failing to meet national health standards

CLEVELAND, OHIO - As summer is well under way and families flock to America's coastal beaches, they often find that an unwelcome "intruder" has beaten them to the shore: an official beach advisory, warning people not to enter the water because it is contaminated with dangerous bacteria.

Along Ohio's Lake Erie coast, beach advisories remain a common occurrence. Last year Ohio ranked second in the nation for the number of coastal beach advisories, according to the 19th annual beach water quality report released today by the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC), the Ohio Environmental Council, and Environment Ohio.

Using the latest data from the U.S. EPA, the "Testing the Waters: A Guide to Water Quality at Vacation Beaches" report tallied 783 health advisory days in 2008 for Ohio beaches, up 19% from the 657 days in 2007. The report is available at here.

A beach advisory is issued when the level of bacteria in the water is higher than the maximum standard allowed for safe swimming. Under Ohio Department of Health rules, most beach postings only advise against-but do not actually prohibit-entering the water.

"We have come far, but additional work is needed to safeguard public health. Advisories continue to turn families and children away from the beach, all because of outdated and overwhelmed sewage and stormwater treatment systems," said Coby Williams, Legislative & Public Affairs Associate for the Ohio Environmental Council.

Tainted beach water can expose beachgoers to a range of waterborne illnesses, including gastroenteritis, dysentery, hepatitis, respiratory ailments and other serious health problems. For senior citizens, small children, and people with weak immune systems, the results can be fatal.

Nationwide, sewage spills and overflows caused more than 20,000 beach closing and advisory days in 2008, down 10% from 2007. This was due to overall drier conditions across the country, producing less stormwater runoff. However, in Ohio, there was a 19% increase in the number of advisory days from 2007. For another year, Ohio ranks 2nd nationally for failing to meet national health standards. The report indicates waters along the Great Lakes coastline are the dirtiest in the country. Studies by the EPA in the Great Lakes show as many as 10% of beach goerers report getting sick after swimming in beachwaters.

"When families head to the beach this summer, they shouldn't have to worry about swimming in polluted water that can make them sick," said Amanda Moore, Environment Ohio Field Organizer. "Ohioans shouldn't have to choose between swimming in sewage and staying out of the water."

Beach advisories represent not only a health hazard, but also a loss in economic revenue. Studies in Michigan have indicated economic losses ranging from $7,935 to $37,030 per day, due to recreational activity lost because of beach advisories.

Aging and poorly-designed sewage and stormwater systems hold much of the blame for beach water pollution. Record rainfalls in recent years have also added to the strain on already overloaded infrastructure. Report authors also found that poor suburban developments in coastal areas are devouring wetlands and other natural buffers such as dunes and beach grass that would otherwise help filter out dangerous pollution.

This pollution is only expected to get worse as global warming continues. The combined effects of temperature increases and more frequent and intense rainstorms will lead to increased stormwater runoff, sewer pollution and disease-causing pathogens in nearby waterways. Specifically, global warming is anticipated to influence the presence of pathogens that cause stomach flu, diarrhea and neurological problems in America's beachwater. The report recommends that Congress pass the American Clean Energy and Security Act (H.R. 2454, also known as ACES), which will reduce emissions of global warming pollution and help communities prepare for flooding, sea level rise, increased stormwater pollution, sewer overflows, and other adverse impacts of climate change.

Buckeye Forest Council asks for your action...

The following information was sent out by the Buckeye Forest Council:

ODNR Division of Forestry - State Forest Open Houses for Fiscal Year 2010

Buckeye Forest Council members and friends have an incredible opportunity to make an impact on the decision making process of the Ohio Division of Forestry (DOF). Open Houses have been announced for most Ohio State Forests. With these events just a few short weeks away the individual plans had not yet been posted on the DOF web site as of Friday, July 24, 2009 at 3:00 p.m. To determine if these plans have been posted please go to: here


If they have not, please write to forestry@dnr.state.oh.us and ask that the plans be posted immediately.


If you are interested in participating in this process please click here to e-mail us. We will be reviewing the plans, making recommendations, and expressing our concerns about DOF forest management practices at each Open House. More info can be found at www.buckeyeforestcouncil.org.

Money to Burn: A prescription for destructive fire on public land?

Money to Burn: A prescription for destructive fire on public land?
Environmental coalition calls for investigation, files complaints
June 24, 2009. For immediate release.
Complete list of contacts and supporting documents below.

In a telephone press conference Wednesday, a coalition of citizens and environmental groups called on the Strickland administration to “rein in Ohio Division of Forestry (ODOF) and conduct a full public investigation of its disastrous prescribed burn program, including April’s 2870-acre Shawnee Forest fire, and financial incentives for DOF to burn.” The group explained in the phone conference why such an investigation must examine:

* ODOF knowledge of and failure to heed extreme fire danger conditions that indicated a high probability of their prescribed burn escaping
* arson charges brought by ODOF during the fire, which the prosecutor has recommended be dropped
* site preparations for the burn (permitted for 250 acres) that eventually burned 2870 acres of Shawnee State Forest at great cost and danger to people and property
* the link between federal fire money and ODOF activity, and
* fire impacts on Ohio forests, local economies, and public health.

David Maywhoor, Director of the Buckeye Forest Council, a statewide forest protection nonprofit, said, “The Ohio Division of Forestry funds its budget in part with federal funds based on acres burned. Behind schedule and with an April 30 deadline looming, DOF set a fire in Shawnee State Forest on Friday, April 24––a day for which the National Weather Service had issued a warning of extreme fire danger ‘across much of southern Ohio.’” DOF’s permit was for 250 acres. 2870 acres burned over the next seven days.

Cheryl Carpenter, of Shawnee-based Voices for the Forest, described circumstances of the arson charge: “On Sunday, April 26, a 22-year old volunteer firefighter and Army veteran who had been assisting DOF on Friday called 911 from a home near where fire had flared. As he was running back toward the fire, he was arrested by DOF and charged with arson for fires that had started on Friday and for possession of criminal tools. According to legal documents, the criminal tool was a Bic lighter.”

Carpenter is one of at least four citizens and environmental groups filing Verified Complaints to Ohio EPA based on DOF violations of its open burning permit. Also filing are Matt Peters of Forest Watch, Barbara Lund of Adams County, and Buckeye Forest Council. Each filing requires that OEPA follow up with an investigation. Peters said, “The breadth and depth of the issues raised in these complaints show that this is not an isolated issue limited to one burn on one forest. Internal agency review has lost its legitimacy. Oversight is needed beyond the agency level.”

Carpenter’s OEPA complaint cites, among many issues, the Fire Chief’s Handbook and DOF’s lack of site preparation: “Many tall dead trees were left standing, even along the permit area perimeter. They act like chimneys and can project embers up to three miles.” The alleged arson fires were less than half a mile downwind of DOF’s fire. ODOF has acknowledged causing the spot fire that started between its permitted fire and the alleged arson fires. “DOF’s fire or spot fires could easily have started all the fires,” Carpenter stated. The Fire Marshall never ruled any of the fires arson. The prosecutor has recommended that the case be dismissed: "They have a lot of work to do--both to show this is arson and to show that he is the one who did it. " (Mark Kuhn, Scioto County Prosecutor in Portsmouth Daily Times, 6-24-09)

J.B. Berry, Nile Township Volunteer Fire Department Assistant Chief, believes the accused “is innocent and that forestry officials have no physical evidence to prove otherwise,” according to the Portsmouth Daily Times (6/6/09): “‘I don’t even think there was an arsonist out there…You had winds that day gusting up to 40 miles an hour.’”

Brandi Whetstone, Sierra Club Ohio Chapter Conservation Program Coordinator, discussed political, health and environmental impacts of the burn program: "Prescribed fire in Ohio's public forests is inappropriate, given the lack of public hearings and the many public health and environmental impacts.” She said, “Fire not only destroys valuable forest habitat but also releases air pollution that contributes to respiratory illness and climate change. Burning is of special concern in areas that fail to meet clean air standards for particulate matter. Ohio Department of Natural Resources should be preserving forests as carbon sinks instead of releasing greenhouse gases that contribute to global climate change."

Heather Cantino, of Buckeye Forest Council, stated, “DOF uses weak, frequently changing justifications to burn vast areas of public woodland in a part of the country where fire is not necessary but harmful. Unlike western forests, our forests are moist: wood rots and does not accumulate as fuel. The only way to protect homes is to protect the immediate area around them. Burning forests doesn’t protect homes. Instead, DOF fires produce lots of dead wood that creates rather than eliminates wildfire risk.”

Cantino continued, “Our forests are not adapted to fire; it harms our forests and encourages invasive plant species, a growing threat to our native forests. And fire’s promotion of oaks is an unproven, controversial goal appropriate, at most, in well-constructed experiments. Where is DOF”s monitoring of the effectiveness of any of its forest burn activities?” she asked.

“Unlike historic fires of earlier centuries, which would have been small and confined to ridgetops, DOF conducts high intensity burns from ridgetops to cove bottoms over many hundreds of acres at a time,” Cantino said. “The studies DOF cites do not look at long term effects, late April burns, or effects on rare species. There is no support in the scientific literature for this kind or scale of burning,” she concluded.

Barbara Lund stated, “Most of Ohio has been appropriated for human use. Less than 1% is truly original. Even secondary native ecosystems are like tiny islands in an ocean of human development. Ohio’s state forests contain biodiversity essential to human survival. But they are literally being managed to death.”

David Maywhoor summed up with the group’s call for action: “The Governor should appoint an independent investigative body to review this fire and all DOF fire and logging activities. Public scrutiny of DOF activities is essential to protect our citizens and our forests. We also look forward to prompt and complete investigation by OEPA of all violations cited in the recently submitted Verified Complaints.”

Additional contacts:

* Cheryl Carpenter, Voices for the Forest: 740-820-8425, cheryl61@falcon1.net
* Brandi Whetstone, Sierra Club Ohio Chapter: 614-461-0734 x311, brandi.whetstone@sierraclub.org
* Barbara Lund, member, Save our Shawnee Forest: 937-544-7104
* Matt Peters, Forest Watch: 740-797-4319, matt@wormsnbats.com
* Heather Cantino, Buckeye Forest Council: 740-594-3338; heather.cantino@gmail.com
* JB Berry, Assistant Fire Chief, Nile Township Fire Department, Friendship OH 740-858-5190

click here for additional materials

Earth Day event sponsored by Black Swamp Conservancy

In via e-mail:

Black Swamp Conservancy to hold Earth Day event at Forrest Woods

Perrysburg, Ohio (April 7, 2009) - Black Swamp Conservancy will host an Earth Day celebration at Forrest Woods Nature Preserve on April 25, 2009, at 10:30 a.m. The celebration will include a seed planting and nature walk. There is no charge to attend and the event is open to the public.

Forrest Woods Nature Preserve, a state nature preserve owned by the conservancy, is located near Antwerp in Paulding County, Ohio. The preserve is one of the few sites that retain the characteristics of the historic Great Black Swamp, which once stretched from Fort Wayne, Indiana, to Ohio’s Lake Erie shoreline. A variety of native plants and animals call Forrest Woods home, including many rare, threatened and endangered species.

Along with its partners at the Ohio Division of Natural Areas and Preserves and at Defenders of Wildlife, the conservancy has been restoring several fields in the preserve to a natural condition. The fields, which had been farmed before the conservancy acquired the property, are being allowed to revert back to woodland. In an effort to maintain the local genetics of the land, the conservancy collected several hundred tree seeds from the old growth woods last fall. The seeds were stored over the winter and will be planted during the Earth Day event.

After the planting, participants are invited to join the conservancy on a nature walk through the preserve. John Jaeger, former director of natural resources for Toledo Metroparks, will lead the walk. Known for its brilliant spring wildflower displays and diverse bird population, Forrest Woods Nature Preserve was named the “best spot to step into spring” by Ohio Magazine in 2007.

Those interested in participating in the Earth Day event should meet in the parking lot of Bethel United Methodist Church at the corner of Paulding County Roads 73 and 192, at 10:00 a.m. on April 25th. Participants are encouraged to bring a shovel or spade with them for the planting. The conservancy also suggests that you dress appropriately for the weather and cautions that it may be muddy in the restoration areas and on the nature walk.

For more information about the Earth Day celebration, please call Rob Krain at Black Swamp Conservancy, (419) 872-5263.

Black Swamp Conservancy, founded in 1993, is a non-profit land trust whose mission is to conserve and protect natural areas and farmland in northwest Ohio for the benefit of future generations. The conservancy has permanently protected 7,522 acres of family farms, woods, meadows and wetlands at over 70 locations in northwest Ohio and southeast Michigan. The conservancy’s territory covers the Oak Openings region, one of Ohio’s biologically most unique areas, as well as the area of the former Great Black Swamp. More information about the conservancy is available online at www.blackswamp.org.