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Projects

Projects are the heart of what we do at Erie Basin! We help groups from project planning to fundraising, to make local dreams a reality.

Projects must first be approved by local County Commissioners or Soil and Water Conservation Districts.

Projects are adopted based on local need, how it fits in our Regional Priorities, and how much the local community has committed to accomplishing the goals.

Current Projects

Below is a list of the past projects Erie Basin has participated in.

ID Past Project Name County Description
1 USDA NRCS Small Farm Conferences All 2004 – 2005 Helped with two USDA NRCS Small Farm Conferences.
2 Tree Planting Program Ashland Sandusky Seneca Developed a Sandusky & Seneca County Tree Planting Program and purchased a two seat Tree Planter to loan out to participants
Obtained a $6,800 grant from USDA Forest Service for Ashland Co. SWCD’s Hazel Willis Woods
3 Time Warner Cable Grant - SK Worm Huron Obtained a $2,500 Grant from Time Warner Cable to sponsor S K Worm use.
4 Rural Fire Protection -100 Dry Fire Hydrants in Richland County Richland 1992 - 2009 The first major effort to assist with Rural Fire Protection was by obtaining a $16,000 Grant to help finance 100 Dry Fire Hydrants in Richland County. Dry Hydrants are Non Pressurized fire hydrants which allow fire departments to utilize water from farm ponds & lakes. The Goal of the Program was to eventually assist with installing 300 hydrants over our County Service area. The project also receive assistance from a Hazard Mitigation Grant obtained by Buckeye Hills RC&D of Marietta, Ohio. We would provide funds to purchase a Dry Hydrant Kit (swivel head, elbow, & strainer) and the rural client would purchase the pipe and install it in the pond. Erie Basin and USDA NRCS also provided the installation requirements to obtain the best performance in all types of weather.
5 Migrant Camp Field Days Erie Huron Lorain

After sixteen years, the Migrant Camp Field Day served it's purpose. Due to lack of interest the program was discontinued. It was usually enjoyed by 45 or so Hispanic & Migrant Farm Children Youth of Huron County. Our Partners / Sponsors for this event usually included the Firelands Electric People Fund, Salvation Army, Farm Service Agency, the Natural Resources Conservation Service, Huron SWCD, and of course the Scouts. It usually took place at the Camp Firelands boy scout camp during the first part of August. Read about a successful one that took place previuosly in 2014, below.

For the 13th year Erie Basin RC&D partnered with USDA NRCS, HURON SWCD, HEART OF OHIO BOY SCOUTS & GIRL SCOUTS OF North East Ohio, SALVATION ARMY, AND FIRELANDS ELECTRIC PEOPLE FUND for the “DISCOVER YOUR WORLD NATURE EDUCATION DAY”

This year the SALVATION ARMY single handedly did all recruiting of the children. It took place on August 6th at the Boy Scout Camp Firelands. Many adult Volunteers made it possible for 26 Children to have a wonderful day at Camp. They were as follows:

NRCS: Rocemi Morales – both last year and this year she visited the Celeryville area to help with signing up children for the event. We must have Parents’ signed Permission Form (s) for them to attend Camp. (Last year’s Camp would not have taken place without Rocemi’s and MJ’s help 3 hours in the evening on their own time)

Valerie Wilet was a great help with the children (a natural) to maintain order and keep them interested and learning.

Interns Elijah Muhommad and Latrell Williams helped children with the Craft and to keep order while S K Worm was teaching.

GIRL SCOUT VOLUNTEER CHRISTINE MICHAEL kept things running smoothly and attended to details as the Day unfolded. (basically second in Command to Dave Keller the Nature Guy). All things considered as the day progressed -- Chris was a LifeSaver!!

OTHER SCOUT LEADERS WERE: Cook Beth Baker; Lifeguards Bob Sliney and Jason Likes; Leader Tim Minnich and Pam Jantzen; and Director Mike Warnock.

WILLARD SALVATION ARMY VOLUNTEER – Josh Lawlis was “a Natural” also with the children in helping to maintain their “attention span”. Also, the same credit can go to our Volunteer Parents Sue & Randy Shaffer representing the NORWALK SALVATION ARMY.

HURON SWCD’S Alisa Schaffer did an excellent job teaching the children about our important natural resource – soil - with the help of S K Worm.

After 6 straight years of getting the children safely to and from Camp we definitely can’t forget our S & S COACH CHARTER BUS DRIVER Kemp Weekes!!

The event was organized by Boy Scout Executive Jeff Vanderpool, Girl Scout Volunteer Christine Michael and Erie Basin’s Greg Small. Substantial funding for this program was provided by the Ohio NRCS Team and the Firelands Electric People Fund of New London.

The Day Camp Schedule consisted of making a Craft to take home, taking a Nature Walk with Dave, lunch, learning about Soil with Alisa, and last but not least SWIMMING. One unplanned part of the day was the misfortune of stepping on a ground HORNET’s nest on the Nature Trail and having to exit that area very FAST. (A few stings here and there, but overall no serious reactions – thankfully – the scouts had plenty of ice and first aid available) First time ever that this happened!! Both Adults and Children learned very quickly that Nature includes EVERYTHING -- not just what you expect!!

Funding Source: Firelands Electric, Erie Basin RC&D, and Ohio NRCS

6 Maumee River Watershed Wood Fiscal Agent for the Ohio Lake Erie Buffer Team Grant of $229,635 to help promote grass buffer strips along ditches and streams to filter run off from farm fields along the Maumee River Watershed into Lake Erie.
7 Malabar Farm Education Building Richland Made a $750 Mini-Grant to Malabar Farm for their new education building.
8 Huron-Vermilion River watershed North Central Ohio Sediment Reduction Project All The Huron Soil and Water Conservation District (SWCD) signed a contract with the U.S. E.P.A. to administer the four year, GLRI grant. The objective was to reimburse eligible producers in the watershed for installing 15,500 acres of winter cover crops, 10 acres of grassed waterways, and 250 acres of filter strips to reduce erosion and phosphorus loading into Lake Erie. The Erie Basin RC&D assisted with the grant development and with the grant implementation. This project covered six of Erie Basin’s ten counties including parts of Ashland, Crawford, Erie, Huron, Richland, and Seneca. This $812,000.00 grant offered cost share dollars to eligible producers in parts of Ashland, Crawford, Erie, Huron, Lorain, Richland, and Seneca Counties.
9 Grants All 2009 - 2010 Receive an Ohio Environmental Education Fund Grant (EPA) for $44,600; a Buffer Team Grant of $10,000; an Ohio Electric Coop Grant of $5,000; and a NRCS Grant of $5,000 to help fund the $84,000 Scientific Knowledge Worm project. The project also included printing 30,000 Activity & Coloring Books and 15,000 Tatoos for children K to 2nd Grades.
Assisted Huron SWCD in obtaining an $800,000 EPA GLRI Grant
10 Flood Control and Drainage-Ashland Ashland Erie Basin RC&D and USDA NRCS assisted with Flood Control and Drainage for the Ashland High School & Ashland Co. Fairgrounds.
Past Project Name County Description