Happy New Year!

January 8, 2015

Hello and Happy New Year from the Open Space Council team!  I just returned from holiday break and am dusting off my keyboard and getting back to OSC’s important mission to conserve land & water resources in the region.  I was fortunate enough to spend time with my family in Clarksville, Missouri taking in the gorgeous views on the mighty Mississippi River (see above).  The break was refreshing and I’m excited to be back working with staff and board members to make St. Louis an even better place to live!

As I type this, the OSC team is actively working with partners, such as The Nature Conservancy, NineNetwork’s WaterMattersSTL initiative, Great Rivers Greenway District, to set the dates for 20+ incredible events that will take place in our region’s open spaces.  The Springtime will be full of outdoor events where you can get involved.

This year, our Operation Wild Lands program, OWLs for short, is expanding & will focus efforts on invasive honeysuckle removal and native plantings along several local greenways, including the North Riverfront Trail near downtown St. Louis and Shady and Deer Creek Greenways near Webster Groves and Maplewood.  We are excited to get to work, enhancing the public trail system by restoring and creating healthy, natural environments where native plants can thrive.  Please plan to join us for one of our OWLs volunteer days in late February, March, April, and May.  Be sure to sign up for our electronic newsletter and watch social media as the specific dates and registration links will be announced by mid-February.  Contact marcia (@) openspacestl.org if you are interested in bringing a group from your workplace or university to volunteer at one of these events.

We’ve spent the last week attending meetings with several local governmental and non-profit partners to bring you a highly collaborative event to restore riparian zones in the Meramec Watershed.  This important volunteer project grew out of the Conservation Action Plan that the Open Space Council and The Nature Conservancy spearheaded in 2013 & 2014 through the Meramec River Tributary Alliance.  Now we get to take the plan off the shelf and get to work!  Volunteers like you will be needed to help us plant hundreds of trees to reduce sedimentation and runoff along local creeks, which will lead to enhanced water quality that we can all enjoy.

Please plan to join us.  Get involved, become a member, sign up for our newsletter, like us on Facebook or Twitter!  It’s going to be a big year for the Open Space Council and we’re so glad to have you as a part of it!

See you outside very, very soon!