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July 29, 2008
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From Greg Davis, Co-Interim Assistant Director, CD:
Summer Greetings to You!
Hopefully by now you have had a chance to really read through the Extension Strategic Plan and discuss it with co-workers. We hope you have begun to identify the short, medium, and/or long term impacts you anticipate from your individual programming efforts related to the Economy, Education, and/or Health. In addition, we hope you have begun to identify others you might be able to partner with to add a multi-disciplinary approach to your individual efforts. Furthermore, we are also hoping you have come up with ways to let go of those efforts that just don’t seem to ‘fit’ so you can devote more time to those efforts that really do!
If you have specific questions related to the Extension Strategic Plan or how you can help implement it, please do not hesitate to contact us.
Tom Blaine (blaine.17@osu.edu) received a variety of content for this edition of the monthly newsletter which illustrates the types of teaching and outreach programming we’ll need to conduct (as well as ways in which to deliver it) to impact Ohioan’s Economy, Education, and Health. Enjoy!
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CD Colleagues: Greetings! I hope everyone is having a great summer. No break for CD work - as you can see, we have a lot of exciting opportunities and activities comming up - plus some recent accomplishments, especially for Ohio Sea Grant :)
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The Ashtabula River dredging project is nearing completion, making the river one of the cleanest, deepest harbors in Lake Erie. The $75 million project, started in June 2006, moved 635,000 cubic yards of contaminated sediment to a nearby landfill, which will be capped by the end of the year.
“A lot of people worked very long and very hard to see the dredging completed,” said Ohio Sea Grant Extension’s Frank Lichtkoppler. “It was all the Ashtabula River Partnership members working together that made this happen. Ohio Sea Grant was one of the founding partners of the Ashtabula River Partnership.” “We are now working on restoring the environment and hope to have the Ashtabula River taken off the IJC list of contaminated Areas of Concern in the Great Lakes in the next few years,” he continued. Having the deep draft available will allow for increased shipping opportunities, and a cleaner river should help provide new opportunities for local marinas and businesses.
Ohio Sea Grant is also developing an economic baseline to measure the economic activity that may result from the AshtabulaRiver dredging. Prior to the project, Ohio Sea Grant collected economic data on local boaters, marinas and small businesses in the harbor area. This will allow a comparison in a few years when the river is fully restored.
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Ohio communities that want to try innovative ways to enhance the viability of local agriculture and the health of area farms can apply for funding from the Center for Farmland Policy Innovation at OhioStateUniversity. The center, which works with local communities on their farmland protection priorities, has issued a request for proposals focusing on community-based agricultural economic development.
Community-based agricultural economic development involves community planning, organizing and acting to enhance the viability of local agriculture and the health of area farms. By considering agriculture to be part of local economic development strategies, communities can benefit by keeping more dollars circulating in the local economy and protecting more of local farmland resources.
Proposals are due Oct. 31, 2008. The center expects to allot mini grants in the range of $1000 to $10,000 per project. For more information on criteria for proposal selection and eligibility, go to the following web page: http://cffpi.osu.edu/program08.htm or contact Jill Clark (clark.1099@osu.edu; 614.247.6479).
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Location: Nationwide and Ohio Farm Bureau 4-H Center, OSU Campus
The theme of this year’s Summit is Bonding Ohio Together and the Clean Ohio Fund’s renewal will be the focal issues of the gathering. The Summit key note speaker is David Kline, farmer, Amish minister, author and publisher of Farming magazine. Other highlighted speakers include leaders from successful township, county and nonprofit programs (both in and outside of Ohio) who will provide examples of creative collaboration strategies. The day will feature breakout sessions for attendees to choose from a variety of topics ranging from landowner basics, statewide land-use policies, creative local funding sources, and agriculture in the local economy. There will also be exhibition space and a lunch prepared with local foods.
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Mark your calendars for the 2008 Ohio Land Use Conference, which will be held on November 17, 2008, at the Nationwide/Ohio Farm Bureau 4-H Center on OSU campus. This year’s conference will focus on “Land Use Policy in Turbulent Times” and will include an address by Sean Logan, Director of the Ohio Department of Natural Resources. Program details and registration will be available soon. Contact Jerry Iles (iles.9@osu.edu) or Peggy Hall (hall.673@osu.edu) for more information.
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On Friday July 18th Ohio Sea Grant hosted its 17th State Legislature and Congressional Day on the shores of Lake Erie, giving state and local elected officials a chance to learn more about the issues facing the Great Lakes and what OSU has done over the years to solve those issues.
Guest speakers at the Cedar Point luncheon included Marcy Kaptur, U.S. House of Representatives; Chris Redfern, Ohio House of Representatives; Mark Wagoner, Ohio Senate; and Mary M. Glackin, Deputy Under Secretary of NOAA.
Afternoon activities, including lure making, snake tracking, seining, and trawling, were held on Gibraltar Island, Ohio State University’s Island Campus in Put-in-Bay, followed by a picnic dinner.
"This event provides legislators a chance to see for themselves the importance Lake Erie holds to Ohio and the need for continuing research, protection, and sensible development," says Ohio Sea Grant Extension Agent Fred Snyder. "It puts them among the opportunities, the problems, and the needs of the Lake's resources and the people whose lives are tied to Lake Erie."
Dinner speakers included Sam Speck, U.S. Commissioner of the International Joint Commission for the U.S. State Department, and Charles E. Herdendorf, Director Emeritus of Ohio Sea Grant and Stone Lab.
Ohio Sea Grant celebrates its 30-year anniversary as a NOAA program this summer.
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Ohio State University Extension is leading a project to create the Ohio Tourism Toolbox, a website tool that will assist those in the Ohio tourism industry, as well as community leaders, in tapping into that $38 billion industry. The site, which will be used to improve economic development, enhance industry connections, and increase Ohio tourism economic impacts, is the result of a partnership between OSU Extension, the Ohio Sea Grant College Program, the Ohio Tourism Division of the Department of Development, and the Ohio Travel Association. For more information, contact Frank Lichtkoppler, lichtkoppler.1@osu.edu
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Ohio Sea Grant has released a new full-color brochure, Lake Erie Shipwrecks and Maritime Tales, which details the location of 28 shipwrecks. The free brochure can be located at all Ohio Sea Grant Extension offices, coastal visitor's bureaus, maritime museums, coastal dive centers, or by calling the Lorain County Visitors Bureau at 1-800-334-1673.
Lake Erie Shipwrecks and Maritime Tales coincides with the launch of the interactive Lake Erie shipwrecks website found at http://ag.osu.edu/Redirect/www.ohioshipwrecks.org/, where the brochure can also be found for printing. Together, they seek to inform and educate the public of the presence of Lake Erie shipwrecks and the importance of preserving and protecting these historic time capsules.
“The advantage of having the brochure is that people can carry it with them when they are visiting Ohio's Lake Erie coastal area,” states Dave Kelch, Ohio Sea Grant Extension Specialist. “We really want the public to discover the maritime history of Lake Erie.”
The brochure boasts 28 wreck sites, providing details on latitude, longitude, vessel description and history as well as specific tips for divers. Also included are locations of 30 historic lighthouses and museums and maps for directions. An online version of the brochure can be found at http://ag.osu.edu/Redirect/www.ohioshipwrecks.org/images/siteimages/Eric013_Shipwreck_web.pdf.
Despite being the shallowest of all the Great Lakes, averaging depths of 62 feet, Lake Erie is home to more than 1,700 shipwrecks, of which only 277 have been found. Increased water clarity over the years now gives the public new opportunities to see these sites for themselves.
The grant for this publication was provided by the Ohio Lake Erie Commission, through its Lake Erie Protection Fund. Funding for the grant comes from Ohioans purchasing “Erie…Our Great Lake” License plates. Additional funding was provided by Ohio Department of Natural Resources and the Ohio Coastal Management Program.
For the shipwrecks website, visit http://ag.osu.edu/Redirect/www.ohioshipwrecks.org/. For more information on the publication, contact Dave Kelch at 440.326.5851 or kelch.3@osu.edu.
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A new Lake Erie Beaches brochure, developed by Ohio Sea Grant, Coastal Ohio, and the Cuyahoga County Board of Health, offers Northern Ohio visitors a beach-by-beach resource for information on each of the Lake’s 31 beach parks. The brochure will be available at all Ohio Visitor Bureaus and OhioState University Extension offices or by calling Melinda Huntley, Ohio Sea Grant Tourism Extension Program Director, at 419-609-0399.
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