Want to know how your environment is doing? Ask the frogs.
This Western Chorus Frog literally hopped over to me at the Cordova project area last week. I took this picture to show what he wanted to tell me. ” Please help us”, the little one says. “It isn’t good here”. Look at the left front foot where the toes are fused and the right rear where there is no foot. A polluted ecosystem will cause this. I did promise that we will do our best!
We will keep you posted on our progress.
To date: We have installed a trash boom at the source of all the trash from the past decades and have removed and stopped about a hundred pounds from adding to this area. We are working with and communicating with the land owners for permissions and access. We have spoken with agencies like the Summit Soil and Water Conservation District for labor support. We have pulled in Brad McKitrick, Representative from Ward 6 and Ward 9 Councilperson Tina Brode Boyes to help coordinate resources. We are already being supported by the City of Akron for pickup and disposal of the trash we are and will collect. Let’s Grow Akron and the Black Hawk Foundation have been instrumental in providing background, and meeting with River Guardians Ohio to get this project going.
Our goal is to have a workable plan in place by the end of the year with measurable and visible progress by the spring of next year. This project will take a few years to reach full potential but as I learned as an ultra runner, “every 100 mile race starts with the first step”!
