By DAVID DUPONT
BG Independent News
The Eco Fair at Bowling Green State University got pushed inside Wednesday, but it still offered a taste of the great outdoors.
People were on hand to information about the Maumee Watershed, the inner workings of the BGSU greenhouse the Wood County parks, legislation to fight climate change, the state’s Division of Wildlife, and the university’s Environmental Action Club.
The stars were at the back of Olscamp 101 where several owls of different species, a red-tail hawk, and a bald eagle perched behind yellow tape. The birds, who had brought to the Back to the Wild Wildlife Rehabilitation & Nature Education Center in Castalia after being injured, now serve as wildlife ambassadors
Animal caretaker Gabby Coley said the birds’ injuries prevented them from being returned to the wild.
The center takes in 2,500 injured animals a year, and spring is the busiest time as creatures emerge from hibernation and females give birth.
Lynn Savial, an educator at Nature’s Nursery, a Whitehouse rehabilitation center, said that the center was happy to accept the invitation to participate in the Eco Fair. It gives her a chance to talk about all the benefits of wildlife, including less popular species such as opossums and bats.
She also talks about how to interact with animals people encounter.
Savial encourages people to call the center first if they find an endangered animal. That tiny creature may not need your help.
The center takes in 3,700 animals a year.
This winter, with its unusual vacillation between warm and cold temperatures, brought many bats out from hibernation early, she said, and that can be fatal for the small mammals. So the center keeps them, often having to hand feed them before returning them to the wild in the area in which they were found.
The fair is hosted by the BGSU Office of Campus Sustainability.
Those on hand include volunteers of the Bowling Green Repair Café who advocate fixing items rather than throwing them out, whether it’s a bicycle, a household appliance or a pair of khaki shorts.
Frank Schemenauer, horticulturist at the BGSU greenhouse, was offering cuttings of plants. He supervises the operations in the greenhouse, which faculty members use for research.
That includes the innovative aquaponics system where yellow perch are raised in a closed system along with fresh water prawns and tomatoes nourished by the wastewater.
He tries to operate the greenhouse in a sustainable way by bringing in helpful insects who consume the harmful bugs to avoid using chemical sprays.
Schemenauer only had to travel a short way to the fair, Lauren Conklin came from New Haven, Indiana, just outside of Fort Wayne.
The group’s mission, its literature notes is “to preserve, protect and improve the ecosystems of the Upper Maumee River and Maumee Watershed.” They pursue that mission through restoration projects, advocacy, and sharing information.
That’s why Conklin, a member of the group’s board and a project manager, traveled the 80 miles to Bowling Green. “If seeing what we’re doing upstream inspires them to do something downstream, that’s a win in my book.”
