MANSFIELD — Richland Soil and Water Conservation District (Richland SWCD) celebrated soil and water conservation at the 77th annual Celebration on Sept. 11.
The celebration brought together partners, volunteers, elected official, and community members to share the District’s mission and the past year’s impact and accomplishments of award recipients and Richland SWCD.
The Celebration began with the Board Supervisor Election. Leonard Fox was congratulated for being re-elected to a second three-year term beginning Jan. 1, 2026.
The Ohio State University at Mansfield was recognized for being named the 2025 Cooperator of the Year for their work educating the public and students about environmental science.
The EcoLab is an umbrella term inclusive of all the outdoor assets on campus. Among other features, the Ecolab consists of a maple research sugarbush complete with maple syrup production, woodland and wildlife management showcase areas, Right-of-Way Pollinator demonstration plots, vernal pools, hiking trails with interpretive signage, and the Grant and Mary Milliron Research Wetlands and Classroom.
The EcoLab was established to provide a range of course work and research experiences for students interested in careers in forestry, water, biology and wildlife.
Balancing internal teaching and research priorities while embracing the external community through outreach and leisure recreation is an overarching goal.
The EcoLab provides educational workshops and programs to the public and fosters partnerships with public and private entities on a range of natural resource and environmental topics.
The award was accepted by Dr. Jason Opal, Dean and Director at The Ohio State University at Mansfield, Cynthia Callahan, Associate Dean of Student Enrichment and Professor of English, and Dr. Gabriel Karnes, Professor in the School of Environment and Natural Resources and EcoLab Director.
Elaine Oswald was acknowledged as the 2025 Volunteer of the Year. Elaine has volunteered with Richland SWCD since 2016 as a precipitation monitor and provides daily reports of rain and snow in real-time on the District website.
The data is used by the public, other volunteers, gardeners, community developers, elected officials and many more.
Each volunteer of the year award recipient picks a public location for a native tree to be planted in his or her honor and Elaine chose Liberty Park due to all the activity aimed at revitalizing the park.
A Green Gable Black Gum tree donated by the District in Elaine’s honor was planted with assistance from the City of Mansfield Parks Department and will be maintained by them.
In addition to being recognized by the District and the Ohio Department of Agriculture (ODA), the contributions of The Ohio State University at Mansfield and Elaine were also recognized by Richland County Commissioners, Ohio Senator Mark Romanchuk, Ohio Representative Marilyn John, and City of Mansfield Mayor Jodie Perry.
The 72-member volunteer team was thanked for their contributions to the District with a donation of over 2,000 hours with savings to the county general fund of approximately $69,000.
Matt Christian, Richland SWCD Director, and his staff shared the year’s past accomplishments. The District hosted the Area II Envirothon in the spring for northeastern Ohio high school teams in a 17-county area, which includes Richland County.
Envirothon is a high school competition held annually designed to stimulate, reinforce and enhance interest in the environment and natural resources. Students are tested on their knowledge of soils, forestry, wildlife, aquatic ecology and current environmental issues.
In addition, the Envirothon encourages cooperative decision-making and team building. Winners move onto the State competition and may ultimately move onto the international competition. The annual competition brought over 200 students plus their advisors to Richland County.
Volunteers and donors attending the competition swelled the number of people in attendance to over 400 and donors contributed over $11,000.00 to purchase competition supplies, awards, food, t-shirts, and fund future Envirothons.
Jordan Keller, Richland SWCD Technician, shared the purpose of the H2Ohio water quality program is to encourage farmers to voluntarily adopt management practices through monetary incentives to help decrease phosphorus runoff from agricultural land.
As of the Annual Celebration, over 24,000 acres of farmland were enrolled in H2Ohio for the year and since then that figure has increased to 30,000 acres making it the largest number of acres enrolled since the program’s inception in 2021 in Richland County.
Sam Foley and Zoe Baumberger, Richland SWCD Technicians, shared the impact of the Stormwater Management and Sediment Control Program administered on behalf of the Richland County Commissioners in unincorporated areas of Richland County and the Village of Lexington.
For the year, over 1,200,000 acres were developed as a result of 350 residential and 38 commercial projects and 600 inspections were conducted.
Theresa Rozic Sutter, Marketing and Volunteer Coordinator, shared Richland SWCD partnered with Richland County Farm Bureau and the Mansfield/Richland County Public Library to provide Cultivating Minds Literacy Kits to Richland County elementary schools to foster environmental and agriculture education in K-6 grades.
The kits may also be checked out through the library. She thanked the Richland County Foundation Gift of Grain and Richland County Youth and Family Council for providing grants to cover the cost of kit supplies and the Mansfield Richland County Public Library for providing books for the Freddy the Fish kit.
The Celebration concluded with a demonstration by Matt and Zoe to provide a better understanding of how land use and pollution affect waterways. Kayla Mitchell, one of this year’s interns, created cornhole boards depicting different surfaces and a hole in the boards represented a stormwater drain.
A variety of colored beanbags symbolized pollutants like car oil, road salt, and fertilizer. Where beanbags landed determined whether stormwater was absorbed into the soil or ran off into waterways, potentially polluting the water.
For more information on Richland SWCD services and programs, visit https://richlandswcd.net or call 419.747.8686.
Programs and assistance of Richland Soil and Water Conservation District are available without regard to race, color, religion, sex, gender identity, age, national origin, ancestry, disability, or veteran status.