Trust for Public Land in Ohio - 2023 by Trust for Public Land

Ohio THERE IS SO MUCH TO BE PROUD OF IN 2023 AND MORE TO LOOK FORWARD TO IN THE YEAR AHEAD

Celebrating 50 Years of Impact, Thanks to You! Since the beginning, Trust for Public Land’s vision has been rooted in a singular belief: that access to the outdoors is essential to people’s well-being. What started as a bold idea 50 years ago has blossomed into a nationwide movement to ensure everyone, no matter where they live, can experience nature’s countless gifts. At this special milestone, we celebrate the incredible network of TPL advocates who make our work possible and catalyze our future efforts. With your support, we have preserved iconic landscapes that stand as a testament to the enduring impact of TPL’s work across Ohio, including Cuyahoga Valley National Park (CVNP). Since the founding of CVNP in 1978, TPL has leveraged its expertise in conservation to help grow the park across 23 projects totaling more than 2,300 acres protected and conveyed to the National Park Service (NPS).

on a year-long research study to help guide the city on ways it can improve the quality of its public parks. TPL’s Land and People Lab finalized the research in August 2023, just as Cleveland launched its first-ever Citywide Parks & Recreation Master Plan. TPL is well positioned to continue informing the city’s park plans through our research and expertise in community engagement and stewardship.

In Cleveland, TPL is recognized as a key partner in the city’s effort to improve access to quality parks. Last year, Cleveland Mayor Justin Bibb announced his commitment to ensuring all Cleveland residents live within a 10-minute walk of a park. The city’s readiness to explore and adopt new approaches to improve park access earned it a spot in TPL’s Park Equity Accelerator program, where we embarked

And we are just getting started! It is an exciting time to be a part of the TPL community, as we look to new opportunities to connect to nature, our histories, and each other. In East Cleveland, we are transforming an asphalt schoolground into a vibrant, functional, outdoor space that centers community access, improves climate resilience, and helps foster immersive experiential learning for tomorrow’s generation of environmental stewards. We are also launching our People and Birds for Land Protection initiative, which will bridge the gap between research, applied science, and citizen input while targeting new areas for land conservation. We remain invested in our vision that every resident in Cleveland has access to a park within a 10-minute walk, and that the benefits of all parks are maximized by being accessible, high quality, and designed to reflect community priorities. In the pages that follow, I invite you to learn about the ways TPL continues to serve as a trailblazer in land conservation and park creation. With your enduring support, we will continue to make Ohio a healthier and more equitable place for everyone. Thank you! Sean Terry Associate Vice President, Ohio State Director

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East Cleveland Community Schoolyards to come. We are partnering with the Cleveland Heights Green Team, Northeast Ohio Regional Sewer District, and other local partners to design a permanent solution to prevent dumping. To directly engage students in this effort, we plan on partnering with them to create antidumping and educational messaging to go along the fence of Caledonia’s new schoolyard.

CALEDONIA ST UDENTS DESIGN THEIR NE W SCHOOLYARD © TPL STAFF

For 27 years, TPL has led more schoolyard renovations than any other organization in the nation, guiding thousands of students and parents in school districts from coast to coast to make the most of this resource that is hiding in plain sight. Access to these green spaces—where you can spend time in nature—has been shown to reduce stress, depression, and anxiety. While reducing urban heat and capturing stormwater, community schoolyards can also improve concentration, lower obesity rates, and reduce blood pressure.

Our Community Schoolyards are not a product but a process. We invite the entire school—students, teachers, parents, and staff—as well as neighbors and local partners, to make their voices heard. At Caledonia, students are leading the playground design: evaluating the site, building models, sketching ideas, and refining design options into a final concept design. Our process is fun and educational, reinforcing lessons in math, science, reading, technology, art, and geography. Students also gain valuable experience in team building, problem-solving, and critical thinking as they design their schoolyards. According to teachers and school administration, attendance, behavior, and test scores all improve after schoolyard renovations, and we look forward to extending these benefits to Caledonia students. Construction on the new schoolyard will begin Summer 2024. Thanks to the support of people like you, we can ensure that Caledonia students and families have easy access to an inviting green space where they can connect with nature and each other.

We are thrilled to bring the power of Community Schoolyards® to East Cleveland—our first schoolyard renovation in Ohio. East Cleveland has one of the highest poverty rates in Ohio, with more than half of all children living below the poverty line. In partnership with East Cleveland City Schools, we are transforming the blacktop lot at Caledonia Elementary School into a nature-rich space that is also available to the entire community after school. Our early efforts at Caledonia have included the clean-up of an illegal dumping site along the ravine adjacent to the school and partially on the school property. TPL helped remove small and large items from the ravine such as bedframes and toilets, with further clean-up efforts soon

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Middle Bass Island East Point Preserve

TPL helped safeguard over 1,200 acres of habitat along the Lake Erie shoreline to become the East Sandusky Bay Preserve MetroPark, a beloved nature preserve for hiking, fishing, and kayaking. The variety of habitats within this East Sandusky Bay region serve as an important stopover site for migratory birds on their long trek across Lake Erie in the spring and fall. With 124 bird species in this area, including 42 species considered endangered, threatened, species of concern, or special interest by the Ohio Department of Natural Resources, this is a popular destination for birding. PHOTO: © RICHARD FREEDA

MIDDLE BASS ISLAND EAST POINT PRESERVE With our partners at Black Swamp Conservancy, we protected nearly 15 acres of beach, shoreline, and coastal wetlands as the Port Clinton Lakefront Preserve. Because of significant shoreline loss from erosion and high-water levels of Lake Erie, coastal habitat restoration is a high priority as many migratory birds use this area as a stopover site during their spring and fall journeys. We also helped protect habitat on South Bass and Kelleys Islands, vital breeding spots for birds like the common tern, the black-crowned night-heron, and the great blue heron. PHOTO: © RICHARD FREEDA

Our work at Edison Woods is recognized as one of the largest achievements in land protection in Northern Ohio, encompassing 1,300 acres of woods, wetlands, grasslands, and meadows. This protected land is crucial bird habitat, providing essential nesting and foraging areas for many species, including grassland nesting birds like the Eastern Meadowlark and Grasshopper Sparrow, warbler species that breed in the area, and migratory species like the Rusty Blackbird and Red-headed Woodpecker. PHOTO: © DARCY KIEFEL

Edison Woods

The Great Lakes are the largest freshwater ecosystem on the planet and provide over 80% of America’s supply of surface freshwater. Over 350 species of birds rely on these coastal lands, making them a crucial stopover during annual fall and spring migrations. Protecting these habitats through our land conservation efforts is a top priority for Trust for Public Land, ensuring these critical ecosystems can continue to thrive for generations to come. PHOTO: © DARCY KIEFEL

Protecting Land & the Great Lakes

East Sandusky Bay/Putnam Marsh

Port Clinton Lakefront Preserve & the Lake Erie Islands

Protecting Ohio’s Birding Destinations

People and Birds for Land Protection

Ohio offers some of the best birding sites in the country, particularly along the Lake Erie shoreline, which is why protecting this land—vital habitat for migrating birds—is core to TPL’s work. To strengthen these efforts, we recently launched our People and Birds for Land Protection (PNB4LP) initiative, a new component of our work that considers the symbiotic relationship between people, birds, and Ohio’s forests and wetlands. PNB4LP informs both our land protection and park creation work, as we explore how protecting the grasslands, wetlands, and forested lands where birds dwell improves climate resiliency in Ohio. With each land protection effort, we will study the condition of bird habitat, and the presence of bird species—especially endangered or threatened species—and will incorporate bird migration forecasts. We aim to improve our knowledge around bird behaviors and habitats by collaborating with the Ohio Department of Natural Resources, and researchers around the country, as well as engaging local citizen scientists. Spending time in nature is proven to reduce stress as well as relieve symptoms of anxiety and depression—and birding has been shown to provide similar mental and physical health benefits. As part of our PNB4LP efforts, we are committed to ensuring the benefits of nature and birding—a historically white-dominated space—are

available to everyone. Together with local bird clubs and Audubon groups, we are promoting seasonal birding activities and hosting guided birding walks at which both novice and experienced birders from diverse backgrounds can connect with nature and contribute bird data that will inform future conservation work in Ohio. In May, we launched PNB4LP at The Biggest Week in American Birding, a 10-day festival in Northwest Ohio that brings thousands of people together to witness the spring songbird migration. TPL staff, supporters, and volunteers attended a guided birdwatching tour by Black Swamp Bird Observatory, a lunch-and-learn session about Ohio’s bald eagle population, and a binocular tutorial for new birders. We look forward to growing and engaging Ohio’s citizen science birding community through future events.

YOU CAN HELP! Support our efforts to protect Ohio’s beloved landscapes and waterfront, safeguard the future of birding, and improve equitable access to nature for all Ohioans.

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Looking Back on 50 Years Connecting everyone to the outdoors has been our mission since we were founded half a century ago. What started as successful efforts to bring nature-rich spaces to parkdeprived areas in Los Angeles and the San Francisco Bay Area soon expanded outward and blossomed into an organization whose positive impact spread far and wide across the U.S.—from American cities to suburban and rural communities. In 2023, we reflect on and celebrate our first 50 years of impact, and we look ahead at the work still to be done. From protecting vast stretches of wide-open spaces to revamping schoolyards, trails, and parks, we strive for equity, inclusion, and access for everyone. Our earliest work in Ohio was at Cuyahoga Valley National Park–what is now a key recreation hub for the people of Ohio. But unlike renowned parks like Yellowstone

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and Yosemite, Cuyahoga Valley National Park did not come into existence until 1978—when TPL worked with local businesses and foundations to bring it all together. Since then, we have continued working with the NPS and have played a vital role in the protection of 23 properties in the park, covering 2,350 acres. One cherished example is the Blossom Music Center—a world-class amphitheater located within the park that hosts outdoor music experiences throughout the summer. When the center was at risk of sale, TPL helped acquire 578 acres of the 780-acre property, adding it to the NPS. The protection of this land has enhanced public access to the park and has also helped Blossom sustain its programming for generations to come. Looking back, we are grateful for our incredible partners who came together to safeguard this beloved space for Ohioans and visitors.

Building a Shared Vision

As part of our 50th anniversary, we hosted a series of Community Impact Days to thank the community and our supporters for their role in TPL’s legacy, and to build momentum for the exciting work ahead. During Earth Week, we gathered with volunteers and friends of TPL at Cuyahoga Valley National Park to plant more than 80 trees, we hosted clean-up events at the Cleveland Cultural Gardens and Rockefeller Park, and we convened at the annual Ohio River Sweep to help remove approximately 27 tons of litter from the banks and surrounding areas of the Cuyahoga River. Thank you to our outstanding volunteers who help keep these outdoor spaces clean, safe, and inviting. Our donors, volunteers, and advocates are essential contributors to the parks, trails, schoolyards, and open spaces that are strengthening neighborhoods and helping people thrive. We spoke with Jennifer Hurd at Bank of America, one of our corporate partners, about what motivates their support of TPL.

Of all worthy causes, what is most motivating about supporting park access? Parks provide shade, places for exercise, and places where neighbors can gather. All of these elements bring about a better quality of life as well as a sense of belonging. It is important for Bank of America to support parks and tree

plantings to mitigate the impact climate change has on our communities.

Why did you start supporting TPL’s work? For me, it is TPL’s commitment to centering its work around community. TPL also provides cutting-edge data, analysis, and technical assistance to advance policy and other systems changes that will accelerate equitable park access across Cleveland.

What about TPL’s work are you most proud of supporting? In 2022, we supported TPL’s Parks for People program to ensure that every Cleveland resident has a park within a 10-minute walk from home. Parks add to the vitality of our communities, and we were happy to contribute to this program.

Why do you think equitable access to nature is critical? If zip codes should not affect outcomes in life, then we need to ensure that all zip codes have access to parks and tree canopy. This is important for many reasons: tree canopies cool neighborhoods, and safe and inviting parks can improve mental and physical health by providing space for exercise and community gatherings. TRUST FOR PUBLIC L AND IN OHIO

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THANK YOU for helping improve the health, equity, and climate outcomes for communities in Ohio and beyond. We could not do this without you.

OHIO ADVISORY BOARD Dylan Beach, Lead Sustainability Strategist, The Goodyear Tire & Rubber Company Mark Biggar, Partner, Jones Day Sarah Robinson Enaharo, Director of Global Sustainability, Health, and Wellness, Milliken & Company Ray Evans, Retired, FirstEnergy* Ken Howe, Retired, Cargill

Karl Kleinert, President and COO, Leapfrog Services

Tom Tyrrell, Founder and Managing Partner, CollaborRx

Dave Mayer, Consultant, McKinsey & Company

Jason Wood, Vice President, ESG, Arhaus

Christine Rupert, Managing Director, Cargill Salt, Road Safety

Kim Woodford, Founder, Journey on Yonder

Siu Yan Scott, Registrar, School of Medicine, Case Western Reserve University

*Board Chair

Sean Terry Associate Vice President Ohio State Director sean.terry@tpl.org

Join us Help ensure everyone has access to the outdoors. Every park we create, schoolyard we transform, trail we extend, and landscape we protect is thanks to supporters like you. tpl.org/donate/oh

Laura Hnat Ohio Director of Philanthropy laura.hnat@tpl.org 1250 Old River Road Suite 202 Cleveland, OH 44113

COV ER , TOP: © ANDY RICHTER; © JASON KUHN; © JASON FLOWERS; L A RG E: © CHRIS BENNE T T; THIS PAG E: © STE V E @ THE ALLIG ATOR FARM