Tours
Day Tour 1– Canoe Tour and Stormwater Best Management Practices at Old Woman Creek National Estuarine Research Reserve
Date: May 9, 2017
Time: 1-5 PM
Cost: $25
Max number: 20
Vans leave from: Kalahari
Tour leader: Emily Kuzmick
Old Woman Creek National Estuarine Research Reserve is a 573-acre reserve on the shore of Lake Erie, located 3 miles east of Huron, Ohio. The semi-enclosed wetland is one of the finest natural estuaries in the Great Lakes and an important locale for the study of coastal habitats. Your journey will start with a 2-2.5 hour canoe tour of Old Woman Creek, followed by a tour of stormwater best management practices at the Mike DeWine Center for Coastal Wetland Studies. The Mike DeWine Center for Coastal Wetland Studies, overlooking the estuary’s eastern shore, provides laboratories for ecological research and serves as a focal point for public visitation and education programs. A comprehensive renovation completed in 2003 incorporated many green building materials and construction techniques and was followed with stormwater retrofits including permeable pavement and a rain garden. Reserve staff will discuss lessons learned from the permeable pavement/cistern project, the performance of this and other permeable pavement installations on poorly draining soils in Ohio’s Lake Erie watershed, and how research results are being used to improve design guidance and support the development of a runoff reduction crediting framework for Ohio.
Tour 1 Approximate Schedule
1 PM- bus leaves Kalahari (7000 Kalahari Dr., Sandusky OH) and travels to Old Woman Creek (2514 Cleveland Rd E, Huron, OH 44839).
Travel time: 14 minutes
1:30-3:45 canoe tour
3:45-4:45 Mike DeWine Center for Coastal Wetland Studies tour
4:45 PM- Bus picks up from OWC and travels back to Kalahari
Travel time: 14 minutes
Day Tour 2- Sandusky Green Infrastructure Projects
Date: May 9, 2017
Time: 1-5 PM
Cost: $25
Max number: 24
Vans leave from: Kalahari
Tour leaders: Melissa Fetter, Eric Dodrill
Take a tour of green infrastructure around the City of Sandusky and City of Vermilion, including a mix of new and established projects at public sites, commercial facilities, and a school. The tour will begin at in the City of Vermilion at the Main Street Beach bioretention and permeable paver project as well as the Showse Park permeable paver project. Next, we will return to Sandusky to see the Lions Park project, a 2017 green infrastructure project which contains three variations of bioretention. Mills Golf Course bioretention pilot project in Sandusky. This was a collaboration between private and government entities to test if a bi-product from the steel industry utilized in a bioretention system can help capture phosphates. The data from the first year is intriguing and people like traveling on golf carts to get to see it!
Tour 2 Approximate Schedule
1 PM- bus leaves Kalahari (7000 Kalahari Dr., Sandusky OH)
1-1:30 travel to Vermilion
1:30-2:00 (30 minutes) – Main Street Beach project
2-2:15 (15 minutes) travel to Showse Park
2:15-2:45 (30 minutes) Showse Park permeable paver project to (Eric Dodrill)
2:45-3:15 travel back to Sandusky
3:15-3:45 Lions Park bioretention
3:45-4 travel to Mills Creek Golf Course
4-4:45 Mill Creek Golf Course bioretention
4:45-5 travel back to Kalahari, stopping by Jackson Street parking lot along the way
Evening Event- NASA Plum Brook Station Tour and Dinner
Date: May 9, 2017
Time: 5:30-8:30 PM
Cost: $50
Max number: 45
Vans leave from: Kalahari
Tour leader: David Taylor, NASA
Take an evening tour of natural areas, stormwater features, and other exciting things at NASA Plum Brook Station in Milan, Ohio. Plum Brook Station is a remote test facility for the NASA Glenn Research Center in Cleveland, Ohio. Located on 6,400 acres in the Lake Erie community of Sandusky, Plum Brook is home to four world-class test facilities, which perform complex and innovative ground tests for the international space community. The Space Power Facility (SPF) houses the world’s largest and most powerful space environment simulation facilities including the Space Simulation Vacuum Chamber measuring 100 ft. in diameter by 122 ft. high. Plum Brook managers have completed prairie and wetland restoration projects at the station, which is home to a wide variety of threatened and endangered species.
Have a buffet dinner after the tour, and then we will adjourn to a nearby watering hole for some liquid refreshment. The first round is on the house!
Tour 3 Approximate Schedule
5:15 PM- bus leaves Kalahari (7000 Kalahari Dr., Sandusky OH)
5:15-5:30 PM travel to Plum Brook Station
5:30-7 tour
7-8:30 dinner