By JULIE CARLE
BG Independent News
The Wood County Park District is expanding its conservation and restoration work across several local parks, with increased prescribed-fire training, prairie restoration, tree planting and invasive-species management highlighted during a recent board meeting.
Haley Barrett, a woodlands specialist with the district’s stewardship department, said five staff members have completed firefighter Type 2 training over the past two years as the district works to build more in-house expertise for prescribed burns. Two staff members are eligible for Type 1 training, which would allow them to pursue burn-boss responsibilities in fall 2027.
The district completed a spring prescribed burn at the 61-acre Sawyer Quarry Nature Preserve, 26940 Lime City Rd., Perrysburg. The burn targeted cottonwoods and phragmites, the invasive wetland reeds that crowd out and kill native plants and harm wildlife.
Follow-up treatments are being used to prevent phragmites from returning and eventually allow native species to become established in the area, Barrett said.
Restoration work also is underway at the J.C. Reuthinger Memorial Preserve pond bank, where erosion has been a problem, according to Barrett. Crews have filled erosion channels, installed matting to stabilize the soil and begun planting shrubs such as buttonbush and elderberry.
“Hopefully, those roots will start getting some structure and we’re going to keep plugging sedges and forbs this fall and seeding it in the winter as well,” she said. “By spring we hope to start seeing some stuff popping up so it’s not eroding into the pond.”
Prairie restoration remains another major focus at J.C. Reuthinger, Cedar Creek, Bradner Preserve and Baldwin Woods West. The 28-acre prairie at J.C. Reuthinger, which was seeded in January 2025, is showing increased blooms and species diversity, while newer prairie plantings continue to undergo invasive-species management, Barrett explained.
Tree and shrub planting also has increased, she said. After planting 241 trees and shrubs across three parks in fall 2025, the district had already planted 350 trees and shrubs across five parks in 2026, with additional plantings planned for the fall. The district is also continuing efforts to remove tree-of-heaven and other invasive vegetation.
The district is participating in a beech leaf disease study with the University of Connecticut. They will collect samples from Bradner Preserve and Baldwin Woods to contribute to research into the disease, which Barrett described as a serious condition with no cure that affects beech trees.
“it’s not one of the dominating species in our area of Ohio; it’s a lot more prevalent in Southern and Eastern Ohio, but we do have some beech trees up here, which I think is why they’re trying to get samples from all around the state,” she said. “Hopefully this study will be a cool start, working towards a solution” that could help the park district better address the disease if it becomes prevalent in the county.
Director Christopher Smalley reported the district is working to solidify relationships with a housing development that is near the newly acquired Pratt Land Grant Farm Park property at Hull Prairie and Roachton roads in Perrysburg Township. Doug Pratt, who, with his wife, Mary Ellen, donated the 168 acres to the park district, “had a lot of handshake agreements that we as a county agency can’t necessarily have,” Smalley explained.
The board authorized Smalley to enter into an agreement with the River Ridge Plat One Homeowners Association to continue maintaining a quarter-acre slice of property that is in front of the housing development
The board also approved spending up to $9,500 for a farm tractor for the Carter Historic Farm. The farm currently has a Depression-era tractor that aligns with the educational programs of the historic farm. The plan is to purchase a 1977 tractor that can provide the horsepower that will help do the farm work more efficiently. The older tractor will still be used for educational purposes.
Event raises funds for Reuthinger irrigation system
The recent fundraiser at J.C. Reuthinger Memorial Preserve, raised $5,700 for the greenhouses’ irrigation system, Chris Rehard reported on behalf of the Friends of the Wood County Parks.
“It was such a nice collaborative even between all the different people involved,” she said.
The friends will host a charitable giving/estate planning program in conjunction with the Greater Toledo Community Foundation.
“Terry and I have been given the charge of the foundation, and in doing that you can do charitable giving through estate planning, though I don’t know much about it,” she said. “We decided we were over our heads and needed advice.”
The event, on Oct. 15 at 5 p.m. at W.W. Knight Nature Preserve, will include presentations by CPA Owen Beck and Attorney Marissa Fitzpatrick.
The Friends group will host Giving Tuesday on Dec. 1, with a goal to raise $10,000 for the second consecutive year.
Rehard also thanked the park district’s marketing team for their work on the newsletter The Oak Leaf. The team is updating the newsletter “to make it more useful and to have the most information possible,” she said, praising the team for being “thoughtful in everything they do.”
In other business, the board:
- Watched President Rebecca Ferguson swear in new park district police officer Elijah Hergert.
- Authorized Smalley to sell, recycle or properly dispose of surplus equipment, including an antique grain cradle scythe, John Deere 828-D snow blower, and 17 aluminum tables from Otsego Park.
- Accepted revisions to the travel reimbursement policy in the park district’s employee manual.in alignment with the Wood County Commissioners’ employee manual.
