| April 2 Minuteman Response |
by Aaron Rourke, leader of FLMSP's Minuteman Response effort
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The minuteman response remains our singular capability."
From the
Dayton Daily News, April 4, 2016
: "Utility crews and private contractors worked overtime Monday to clean up the millions of dollars in damage left by the region's first major wind storm of 2016, the most destructive since the 2012 derecho."
The response to that derecho, and Hurricane Ike a year or two before it, were shining moments for FLMSP. Ike dropped so many trees in two hours' time that we found ourselves in a new world of work. It was our first mass casualty incident. The infrastructure we needed to deal with it was in place, however, in the form of a uniform distribution of adopters, chainsaw crews, and equipment. We powered through that day, and invented our minuteman process on the fly. We were no longer novices when the derecho came along, and we handled it very methodically. We removed fifty downed trees within about one work day.
More story and photos
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| Opening Day on the Trails Challenge |
Tri-State Trails is hosting the region's first Opening Day on the Trails event on April 16, 2016 at the Earth Day Celebration at Sawyer Point in Cincinnati. Opening Day on the Trails is a national kickoff to the spring outdoors season, organized by Rails-to-Trails Conservancy.
The Opening Day on the Trails Challenge will encourage people to walk/run, hike, or bike over the course of seven weeks to experience our region's trails.
Find out how to participate and earn prizes
here.
Sunrise
Bicycle
Ride
As part of the Challenge, Cycling Backroads is hosting a Sunrise Bicycle Ride
on the Little Miami Trail on Sunday, May 15th from Miami Township's Riverview Park. A description of the event and registration will be posted on the Cycling Backroads site in the next few weeks.
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| Litter Cleanup |
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We hate litter along the trail, and we know you do, too. Darcy Havill did something about it. He called the FLMSP hotline number on March 16 to report beer cans and trash strewn along the trail in Camp Dennison from Cunningham Road all the way north to the Rte.123 road crossing. He also said he'd be happy to help clean it up.
The next day, Mike Dresch, Bruce Cortright and Dick Ward joined Darcy to pick up the trash. The result of their efforts is what you see filling the back of Bruce's pickup truck in this photo. Thank you, gentlemen.
While the volunteers were working, a sheriff's deputy stopped by and took a report on the situation. We hope intervention of law enforcement can protect our trail from another episode like this.
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| Current Trail Work |
Work on 7 trail culverts between SR 48 and I-275 is well underway, a joint effort of the Dept. of Natural Resources and FLMSP. Four are finished and the fifth is in process. The last two require extensive work to be done by outside contractors funded by grant money.
Mowing Prep:
The first mowing of the season will be April 18 or a little later. Our trail adopters will be busy clearing the trail berms so the mowers will have a clear pass.
Root Cutting:
A team of FLMSP volunteers led by Ron Gorley plan to begin the 2016 root-cutting effort April 18. An effective measure to prevent trail bumps and cracks, the team's effort will be followed by a state crew that will rake the berm.
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| We Love Volunteers! |
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Tres Eubanks (right) is volunteering with the Friends for his high school Community Service work. He is supervised by Paul Morgan, and is shown here with FLMSP volunteer Rich Easterly.
To find out how you can volunteer with a group or as an individual, please contact us as
volunteer@flmsp.org
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Friends of the Little Miami State Park is a nonprofit organization devoted to the preservation and enhancement of the Little Miami State Park. We assist the Ohio Department of Natural Resources with development planning, capital improvements, and safety concerns, as well as providing most of the maintenance of the park.
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