Our 2024 Fall Calendar
of Volunteer Events
the Arc of Appalachia presents
Volunteers work in concert with the Arc’s staff to complete a variety of forest stewardship tasks, including planting trees, monitoring tree diseases, restoring rare ecosystems, and – most importantly – removing non-native invasive plants that threaten the balance of our most sensitive ecosystems. Volunteers work to restore, protect and perpetuate native plant and animal communities in the Arc’s growing preserve system.
Huckleberry Ridge/Tremper Mound Trail Construction *Added Summer workdays*
July 17th & 24th, 2024, Meet at 9:45 am, workday is from 10 AM - 3 PM. 21154 OH-104, McDermott, OH 45652 Map
We are adding two additional workdays at Huckleberry Ridge. We are a little over halfway done and in our final big push to finish before we can open this stunning trail to the public. Huckleberry Ridge is our second hiking trail project at Tremper Mound in Scioto County Ohio and is slated to be the longest in the preserve at around 2.5 miles, going through the rugged ridgetops and ravines just west of the mound. Volunteers will assist in clearing, trail benching, building steps, learning how to flatten a slope, building water bars, removing tripping hazards, and more. There is a job for everyone. There will be a series of two workdays scheduled for this project, July 17th and 24th. Join us for one or both! Please bring work gloves, a personal water bottle, a packed lunch and/or snacks. No experience is necessary, all are welcome. Please note that there are no restroom facilities at this location. For registration, click here
Plum Run Prarie Expansion
September 7, 2024, Meet at 9:45 am, workday is from 10 AM - 2 PM. Mendenhall Rd. Peebles, OH 45660 (map)
Adams County Ohio is known across the country and around the globe for its unique alkaline, cedar glade prairies, of which the Arc of Appalachia has saved several. Join the Arc's land stewardship team as they work to preserve and expand this prairie at Plum Run Preserve. We will be working side by side with Arc volunteers who participate in the deer management program. We will meet in the parking area off Mendenhall Road. Please bring work gloves, a personal water bottle, and a packed lunch. No experience is necessary, all are welcome. Please note that there are no restroom facilities on the preserve. For registration, click here
Cave Road 100, Fall Invasive Workday
October 19, 2024, Meet between 9 am - 10 am, workday is from 10 am - 2 pm. 7660 Cave Rd. Bainbridge, OH 45612 (map)
100 - Can we do it? Yes, we can! Please join the entire Arc of Appalachia Land Stewardship Team and your fellow Biodiversity Brigade volunteers to clear the roadsides in the Heart of the Sanctuary. You're invited to arrive at the Appalachian Forest Museum between 9 am and 10 am to meet your fellow volunteers and the Arc staff over coffee, tea, and dessert. Then at 10 am, we'll spread out in small groups to work along different sections of the Sanctuary. The Highlands Nature Sanctuary is the birthplace and headquarters of the Arc of Appalachia, and arguably the Arc's most beautiful preserve. New volunteers will be trained in invasive plant identification and proper removal. Sturdy shoes, work gloves, and a daypack to carry a water bottle and light-packed lunch are recommended. Bring a long-handled shovel if you own one. Please join us! Just imagine what can be achieved with 100 Volunteers, all with the same goal of eradicating the non-native highly invasive bush honeysuckle, multiflora rose, autumn olive, and privet in the heart of the Sanctuary. No experience is necessary, all are welcome. For registration click here
Ohio River Bluffs, Fall Invasive Workday
October 12, 2024, Meet at 9:45 am, Workday is from 10 am - 2 pm. 400 Gilkison Hollow Rd. Manchester, OH 45144 (map)
Join the Arc of Appalachia Land Stewardship Team, Biodiversity Brigade volunteer leader Debi Wolterman, and fellow Biodiversity Brigade volunteers in protecting this botanically rich preserve. The Bluffs has, perhaps the most impressive wildflower display in the entire state of Ohio. The forest floor of this preserve is carpeted from the base of the hill, nearly to the top of the ridge, with wave after wave of Virginia Bluebells, Wild Hyacinth, Dwarf Larkspur, Blue-eyed Mary, and many, many more vernal delights. But, we must remain vigilant in continuing the effort of removing bush honeysuckle, multiflora rose, and tree of heaven to allow that beautiful, showy, Spring wildflower display to continue to dazzle visitors. New volunteers will be trained in invasive plant identification and proper removal. Sturdy shoes, work gloves, and a daypack to carry a water bottle and light-packed lunch are recommended. No experience is necessary, all are welcome. Please note that there are no restroom facilities on the preserve. For registration click here
Ridgeview Farm, Fall Invasive Workday
November 2, 2024, Meet at 9:45 am, Workday is from 10 am - 2 pm. 6636 St. Rt. 753, Hillsboro, OH 45133 (Map)
Join Arc Director Nancy Stranahan, and the Ridgeview Farm Biodiversity Brigade as they lend a helping hand to the ongoing rewilding of this rich and biodiverse farm. Non-native invasive plants like bush honeysuckle, autumn olive, and multiflora rose are a constant challenge for wildland preservationists. Spring and fall, year in and year out, staff and volunteers descend on the farm to remove these plants from the landscape. Using hand tools and the targeted application of herbicide solutions, Volunteers will continue the efforts of previously dedicated invasive eradication and restoration to Ridgeview Farm. A hearty lunch awaits our volunteers at the end of the day around 2:30 pm. Sturdy shoes, work gloves, snacks, and a water bottle are recommended. Volunteers will be trained on invasive plant identification and the safe treatment methods used to remove the non-native, invasive plants. Please meet at the Beavers Cemetery. No experience is necessary, all are welcome. For registration click here
Sugarbush Hill & Tobacco Barn Hollow, Trail Construction Workday
November 9, 2024, Meet at 9:45 am, Workday is from 10 am - 3 pm. 7170 Morgan Fork Road, Waverly OH 45690 (Map)
Sugarbush Hill is a 40-acre property contiguous to the 12,531-acre Pike State Forest located in the Arc of Appalachia’s Tobacco Barn Hollow Preserve region in Pike County. The property protects a healthy and intact Appalachian hardwood forest where the previous owners operated a maple syrup harvesting operation for nearly 30 years. The Buckeye Trail and North Country Trail currently run next to the property on Morgans Fork Road. Join the Arc’s land stewardship team to help us install a 1.25-mile loop hiking trail that would be open to the public and the Buckeye and North Country Trail hikers daily. Volunteers will assist in clearing, trail benching, building steps, flattening slopes, building water bars, removing tripping hazards, and more. There is a job for everyone! Please bring work gloves, a personal water bottle, a packed lunch, and snacks. Sturdy shoes are recommended. No experience is necessary, all are welcome. Please note there are no restroom facilities at this location. For registration click here
Quiverheart Gorge Preserve, Prarie Expansion
November 13, 2024. Meet at 9:45 am, Workday is from 10 am - 2 pm. 2199 OH-781, Peebles, OH 45660 (Map)
One of our newly opened Preserves, Quiverheart Gorge is full of surprises. From waterfalls to towering vertical walls of dolomite, to fields of house-size boulders, to a varied display of spring wildflowers to cedar barrens, and beautiful overlooks, around almost every turn there is something new. Please join the Arc Land Stewardship Team, Caretakers David & Kim Baker, and fellow Biodiversity Brigade Volunteers as they begin the process of reopening the short grass prairie or simply ‘Cedar Barrens’ allowing shooting stars, prairie dock, and other rare prairie wildflowers to continue to exist. We will work to remove targeted areas of Cedar Trees, opening the canopy for the sun to reach the prairie below. Please bring work gloves, a personal water bottle, and a packed lunch. No experience is necessary, all are welcome. Please note that there are no restroom facilities on the preserve. For registration, click here
Maude’s Cedar Narrows Invasive Workday
November 16, 2024, Meet at 9:45 am, workday is from 10 AM - 2 PM. Hillsboro, OH 45133 (map)
Maude's Cedar Narrows is a picturesque landscape near the head of the lower Rocky Fork Creek, just below the dam on Rocky Fork Lake. The first major tributary entering the creek from the south is Franklin Branch. A short section of this stream is characterized by steep dolomite bluffs, scattered dolomite slump blocks, and cascading waterfalls. In the spring, the wildflower display here rivals any in the sanctuary. Join the Arc of Appalachia Land Stewardship Team and fellow Biodiversity Brigade volunteers as we tackle the ever-invasive bush honeysuckle, multiflora rose, and autumn olive. We will be working from the upper end of Franklin Branch Gorge and Bluff. This is a gem that wants and needs our conservation efforts to allow it to continue flourishing for future generations to come. No experience is necessary, all are welcome. We recommend sturdy shoes and work gloves, Please bring a personal water bottle, and a packed lunch &/or snacks. Much of our work will be shovel work and/or cut and treat. We will provide all the equipment needed, but if you have a favorite shovel or tool that you would prefer to use, please feel free to bring that along with you. Please note that there are no restroom facilities on the preserve. For registration click here.