Restoration Events held at CVNP

  Make a Difference Day is a habitat restoration project which is celebrated by hosting multiple small volunteer groups that help plant trees and restore the natural habitat of the park. Volunteers will use shovels to dig holes for native trees, hammer in stakes beside newly planted trees, and cover trees with deer tubes for protection. This project helps to fill in the tree canopy and creates less fragmented habitat for wildlife.

  Due to the construction of the Ohio and Erie canal, regional development and agricultural activities over the years, the Stanford Run has seen many modifications. The stream was cut off from the Cuyahoga river and a large wetland of invasive plants formed due to which the Stanford road has regularly flooded. Due to the flooding, the habitat of the trail has been destroyed over the years. In the Stanford Run Restoration, volunteers plant about 1,000 native trees around the trail. The US Army corps of engineers have installed a larger culvert under the towpath trail and excavated new meandering stream channel to prevent flooding. 

  This activity is a vital contribution to fulfil the parks mission to provide visitor enjoyment and to preserve resources in the park. This is a CVNP Volunteers-In-Parks Program, which is co-managed by the National Park Services and Conservancy for Cuyahoga Valley National Park. 

Depending on the volunteer position, volunteers will work with staff from the national park service and Countryside Conservancy (Farmers Market) a non-profit organization on partnership with CVNP, which helps with growing and harvesting food. 

Volunteer opportunities here:   

Ø Market Setup

Ø Market tear-down

Ø Market Ambassadors

Ø Parking Management

Ø Produce inventories

 Volunteers will also work with Cuyahoga Valley Scenic Railroad which is a non-profit organization in partnership with CVNP which is dedicated and committed to preserving and renovating historic railcars.

Volunteer opportunities here: 

Ø Servers

Ø Maintenance Support

Ø Platform Attendants

Ø Concessionaires

The purpose of this is to improve the health of the Cuyahoga River. Dams harm the fish habitat, change water temperatures and alter the natural flow of water and sediment through our waterways. Removing this dam will help wildlife to recover and make our water cleaner. The Demolition began on May 21st, 2020 and the clean up was completed in July. Volunteers will help restore the habitat around the river. 

More details can be found at the official website of the Cuyahoga Valley National Park.