Register to Participate in a Bioblitz - Fun for Everyone!

Want to have fun, do good, and be part of something BIG? Public registration is now open for the 2009 Indiana Dunes BioBlitz, sponsored by National Geographic and taking place at the Indiana Dunes National Lakeshore May 15-16! Base Camp for the event will be at West Beach, and there are lots of opportunities to get involved and have fun.

Enroll yourself and up to five companions to join scientists on species inventory teams in the park. They're fielding teams at a number of locations. (See the map.) It’s fun for the whole family, and it’s free, so don’t miss your chance—sign up now!

Volunteers are also needed to help with BioBlitz logistics at Base Camp and other Indiana Dunes locations. If you can lend a hand for several hours or throughout the event, volunteer today!

BioBlitz is a 24-hour event in which teams of scientists, volunteers and community members join forces to find, identify, and learn about as many local plant and animal species as possible. National Geographic is helping conduct a BioBlitz in a different park each year throughout the decade leading up to the U.S. National Park Service Centennial in 2016. The Indiana Dunes National Lakeshore was selected because it is the 5th most biodiverse national park property in the entire nation. Lucky for us!

Hope to see many of you out there!

Recycling Rate Increases to 33 Percent!

Just a reminder on this Earth Day to reference the Guide to Recycling in Ogden Dunes when you have questions about what and what cannot be recycled. Ever since the Guide was published late last year, the Town's diversion rate has risen from 25 percent to 33 percent at the end of March!

A .pdf of the document may be found on the town website at http://www.ogdendunes.net/images/Guide_to_Recyling_in_Ogden_Dunes.pdf. A special feature is hypertext linking that allows you to jump to the question you want answered.

Would You like to Adopt our Beach?

The ODEAB is looking for a group of residents who would like to participate in the Alliance for the Great Lake’s "Adopt-a-Beach" Program three times per year. This is a great opportunity for friends and families to do something to help the beach, while learning about our most precious resource – Lake Michigan.

All around the Great Lakes, schools, families and community groups have adopted beaches. These groups periodically gather to remove litter, monitor beach health and conduct an at-home water quality test. They then work with the Alliance to log the information onto a website database, which the Alliance uses for pollution prevention advocacy and education.

Some of you may be familiar with this process. For the past several years, Ogden Dunes has been participating in the Annual International Coastal Clean up Day held each September. This program expands that effort in Ogden Dunes to two more times per year, taking place in early and mid-summer, then again in September.

Participants would need to dedicate approximately two hours each visit and would work in pairs to collect and tally litter; and fill out a Routine Visit Report that asks questions about conditions that day such as air temperature, wind direction, time of last rainfall, and other pertinent information.

If you are interesting in joining with this effort, please contact Susan MiHalo at spsmodin@verizon.net or any of the ODEAB members. Once we have a group of dedicated volunteers, we can arrange a training event.

Note: this would not be an effort to clean the entire beach and would not replace overall clean up efforts. It's more of an effort to monitor the state of our beach and track it's condition over time.


For more information on the Alliance for the Great Lakes “Adopt-a-Beach” program, visit http://www.greatlakes.org/Page.aspx?pid=525.

Partcipate in a Garlic Mustard Pull on April 26!

During the town's Clean Up Weekend, April 25-26, join the Ogden Dunes Environmental Advisory Board in a "Garlic Mustard Pull" along the Sand Tracks. Meet at the Tennis Courts on Diana Rd. at 4:00 p.m.

We'll show you how to spot and pull first-year sprouts of this alien biennial invader that crowds out native species and harms the soil. We'll also show you how to properly dispose of it (rather than just throwing on the ground, which really does not help!). The event will officially end at 5:30 p.m. -- that is unless you wish to keep at it!

As you can see from the photos above, first-year and second-year Garlic Mustard looks remarkably different. If you can manage to get most of the first-year sprouts out of the ground, the invasion won't be as bad the next year.

So wear some old clothes and come join us! Gloves and paper bags will be provided.