Abbreviation | TWC |
---|---|
Formation | June 19, 1964 (as Stark Wilderness Center) |
Type | 501(c)(3) nonprofit |
34-0943581 | |
Purpose | Conservation, education |
Headquarters | 9877 Alabama Ave SW |
Location |
|
Origins | Canton Audubon Society |
Region served | Wilderness Lake, Zoar Woods |
Services | School programs, interest clubs, podcast |
Executive Director | Jeanne Gural |
President | Roger Baker |
Main organ | Board |
Revenue (2022) | $2.34 m [1] |
Expenses (2022) | $1.39 m [1] |
Funding | Private donations, ecopreneural ventures |
Website | wildernesscenter |
Formerly called | Stark Wilderness Center |
The Wilderness Center (TWC) is a 501(c)3 nonprofit nature center that operates its headquarters in Wilmot, Ohio, located in southwest Stark County, Ohio. It includes an interpretive building, astronomy education building, an observation tower, pier and picnic shelters. TWC's 10 miles of trails go through forest, prairie and along streams and creeks and past ponds and Wilderness Lake. TWC also maintains hiking trails on its Zoar Woods satellite property in northeast Tuscarawas County, Ohio. TWC owns or holds conservation easements on other tracts of land throughout a six-county area. TWC preserves these lands in forested or agricultural condition. [2]
The Wilderness Center Constitution states that its mission is "to connect our community with nature, educate people of all ages, conserve natural resources and practice environmental stewardship."
In 1963, the Canton Audubon Society began raising community interest in establishing an outdoor education center. School administrators endorsed the idea. On June 19, 1964, the founders incorporated as the Stark Wilderness Center, a non-profit organization for scientific and educational purposes. The Hart Interpretive Building was opened on April 28, 1974. The name was changed to The Wilderness Center, Inc., on January 18, 1979. [3]
TWC’s Sigrist Woods is recognized by the Ohio Department of Natural Resources as an Ohio Natural Landmark and Lash's Bog is designated a State Nature Preserve.
TWC offers other programs for schools, family, youth and adults such as turtle days, salamander and snake hikes, monarch butterfly tagging, family astronomy programs and bimonthly nature hikes.
TWC's interest clubs include astronomers, backpackers & dayhikers, birders, botanizers, cavers & climbers, Family Nature Club, fly fishing enthusiasts, geocachers, geologists, nature photographers, needle crafters and woodcarvers. These groups offer trips, speakers and other events in their interest areas. [4]
The Wilderness also hosts a weekly science and nature podcast called Wild Ideas – The Podcast, where staff members and guests discuss various topics particularly related to the season. The first episode was posted on March 27, 2009. Wild Ideas – The Podcast is found on iTunes and most other podcast hosting websites.
TWC currently has almost 3,000 acres of land under its protection. The main 650-acre tract is in the southwest corner of Stark County, where the headquarters is located. TWC owns an additional 870 acres in 6 counties, and holds conservation easements on additional 1,500 acres. All of TWC's properties have a land management plan that includes a Wetland Mitigation Bank.
The Wilderness Center is approved to offer stream mitigation under its in-lieu fee agreement with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Huntington District and the Ohio Environmental Protection Agency. [5]
The Wilderness Center is funded through private donations and revenue generated through its ecopreneural ventures including:
Aldo Leopold was an American writer, philosopher, naturalist, scientist, ecologist, forester, conservationist, and environmentalist. He was a professor at the University of Wisconsin and is best known for his book A Sand County Almanac (1949), which has been translated into fourteen languages and has sold more than two million copies.
The Adirondack Park is a park in northeastern New York protecting the Adirondack Mountains. The park was established in 1892 for "the free use of all the people for their health and pleasure", and for watershed protection. At 6.1 million acres, it is the largest park in the contiguous United States.
The Catskill Park is in the Catskill Mountains in the U.S. state of New York. It consists of 700,000 acres of land inside a Blue Line in four counties: Delaware, Greene, Sullivan, and Ulster. As of 2005, 287,500 acres (116,300 ha) or 41 percent of the land within, is owned by the state as part of the Forest Preserve; it is managed by the Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC). Another 5% is owned by New York City to protect four of the city's reservoirs in the region that lie partially within the park and their respective watersheds.
Hocking Hills State Park is a state park in the Hocking Hills region of Hocking County, Ohio, United States. In some areas the park adjoins the Hocking State Forest. Within the park are over 25 miles (40 km) of hiking trails, rock formations, waterfalls, and recess caves. The trails are open from dawn to dusk, all year round, including holidays.
The protected areas of Michigan come in an array of different types and levels of protection. Michigan has five units of the National Park Service system. There are 14 federal wilderness areas; the majority of these are also tribal-designated wildernesses. It has one of the largest state forest systems as well having four national forests. The state maintains a large state park system and there are also regional parks, and county, township and city parks. Still other parks on land and in the Great Lakes are maintained by other governmental bodies. Private protected areas also exist in the state, mainly lands owned by land conservancies.
The Midewin National Tallgrass Prairie (MNTP) is a tallgrass prairie reserve and is preserved as United States National Grassland operated by the United States Forest Service. The first national tallgrass prairie ever designated in the U.S. and the largest conservation site in the Chicago Wilderness region, it is located on the site of the former Joliet Army Ammunition Plant between the towns of Elwood, Manhattan and Wilmington in northeastern Illinois. Since 2015, it has hosted a conservation herd of American bison to study their interaction with prairie restoration and conservation.
Summit Metro Parks is a Metroparks system serving the citizens of Summit County, Ohio by managing 14,000 acres (5,700 ha) in 16 developed parks, six conservation areas and more than 150 miles (240 km) of trails, with 22.4 miles (36.0 km) of the Ohio & Erie Canal Towpath Trail.
The Cache River is a 92-mile-long (148 km) waterway in southernmost Illinois, in a region sometimes called Little Egypt. The basin spans 737 square miles (1,910 km2) and six counties: Alexander, Johnson, Massac, Pope, Pulaski, and Union. Located at the convergence of four major physiographic regions, the river is part of the largest complex of wetlands in Illinois. The Cache River Wetlands is America's northernmost cypress/tupelo swamp and harbors 91 percent of the state's high quality swamp and wetland communities. It provides habitat for more than 100 threatened and endangered species in Illinois. In 1996, the Cache was designated a Wetland of International Importance by the Ramsar Convention.
Wesselman Woods Nature Preserve is a 240-acre (0.97 km2) nature preserve located in Evansville, Indiana. It is a National Natural Landmark and a State Nature Preserve owned by the City of Evansville and operated by the non-profit Wesselman Nature Society.
The Columbus and Franklin County Metro Parks are a group of 20 metropolitan parks in and around Columbus, Ohio. They are officially organized into the Columbus and Franklin County Metropolitan Park District. The Metro Parks system was organized in 1945 under Ohio Revised Code Section 1545 as a separate political division of the state of Ohio. The Metro Parks are overseen by a Board of Park Commissioners consisting of three citizens appointed to three-year terms without compensation by the Judge of the Probate Court of Franklin County, Ohio. The Board in turn appoints an Executive Director responsible for operations and management of the parks.
The Forest Preserve District of DuPage County is a governmental agency headquartered in Wheaton, Illinois, United States. Its mission is to acquire and hold lands containing forests, prairies, wetlands, and associated plant communities or lands capable of being restored to such natural conditions for the purpose of protecting and preserving the flora, fauna and scenic beauty for the education, pleasure and recreation of the citizens of DuPage County.
Erie MetroParks was formed as the "Erie County Metropolitan Park District" in 1968 and adopted its current name in 1991. It consists of 14 individual park areas located throughout Erie County in the US state of Ohio covering approximately 3,200 acres (1,300 ha).
According to the California Protected Areas Database (CPAD), in the state of California, United States, there are over 14,000 inventoried protected areas administered by public agencies and non-profits. In addition, there are private conservation areas and other easements. They include almost one-third of California's scenic coastline, including coastal wetlands, estuaries, beaches, and dune systems. The California State Parks system alone has 270 units and covers 1.3 million acres (5,300 km2), with over 280 miles (450 km) of coastline, 625 miles (1,006 km) of lake and river frontage, nearly 18,000 campsites, and 3,000 miles (5,000 km) of hiking, biking, and equestrian trails.
The Athens Conservancy is a 501 (c) (3) land trust based in Athens County, Ohio. It was founded in 2002. It is an all-volunteer organization.
Highlands Sanctuary, Inc. is a nonprofit organization which operates under the dba of The Arc of Appalachia Preserve System. The Arc of Appalachia has been in operation since 1995, working to create and steward nature preserves in the forested Appalachian counties of southern Ohio. In 2016, The Arc of Appalachia had completed the protection of 4268 acres in 15 preserve regions.
Arroyo Conejo Open Space is a 302-acre (122 ha) open space reserve in the western Simi Hills in northern Newbury Park, Ventura County, California. Most of it is part of the 250-acre (100 ha) Arroyo Conejo Nature Preserve.
Kiser Lake Wetlands State Nature Preserve, or simply Kiser Lake Wetlands, is a 51 acres (21 ha) nature reserve located in Johnson Township, Champaign County, Ohio, United States. It is located wholly within the Kiser Lake State Park, and operated by the Ohio Department of Natural Resources.
The Hobart Nature District is located in the City of Hobart, Indiana and includes over 1,000 acres (400 ha) of scenic parks, wetlands and floodplains, winding rivers, peaceful lakes, open prairies, oak savannas, old-growth forests, and undulating ravines.
The Disney Wilderness Preserve is a 11,500-acre nature reserve near Kissimmee, Florida. It was created through an agreement between The Walt Disney Company, The Nature Conservancy, and the state of Florida. It is located fifteen miles south of Walt Disney World.