Conservation: 2025 In Review
By Sam Settlemyre, CGC Conservation Program Manager
2025 was another year of growth and new adventures for our Conservation Program, the youngest of the Civic Garden Center’s program areas.
Greenspace Guardians
The biggest development was launching our Greenspace Guardians Certification. A group of 20 passionate people participated in this intensive training, which spanned the entire growing season. The series kicked off with six classroom sessions, which were followed by monthly field sessions from April through October. Participants learned skills such as plant identification, invasive species removal and management, site assessment, community organizing, volunteer leadership and long-term site management.
Our goal was to empower these motivated individuals with the skills and connections needed to play a leadership role in conservation efforts taking place throughout the Cincinnati region—especially in their own communities. To help realize this goal, participants completed capstones in which, with CGC support, they took on conservation projects of their choosing. These included installing pollinator gardens, volunteering with local partners, restoring the grounds of the Harriet Beecher Stowe House and securing funding to restore more than 40 acres at Valley View Nature Preserve. (For examples, check out Maria’s story on Instagram or Facebook and Yvonne’s from our fall newsletter!)
To make this training possible, we relied on incredible partners from the University of Cincinnati, Cardinal Land Conservancy, Cincinnati Parks, Mill Creek Alliance, Western Wildlife Corridor, Five Rivers Metro Parks, Cincinnati Nature Center and the Ohio Department of Natural Resources.
“Sometimes you just need to get your hands in the dirt—and have a whole team cheering you on. That’s exactly what I found through the CGC’s Greenspace Guardians program. This year, they supported me in restoring a local greenspace by teaching me how to remove invasive plants, connecting me with helpful grants and organizations and showing up alongside me for volunteer work days. I’m so grateful to be part of such a wonderful, plant-loving community!”
ReRooted
Our ReRooted plant propagation program continued to grow in 2025—quite literally! We successfully grew over 4,000 native plants, including more than 75 species of herbaceous and woody plants. That’s more than 25 more species than we grew in 2024! Volunteers continue to play a vital role in this program as we work hard to supply more high-quality native plants for gardeners in our region.
Collaborations
We continued to work with our partners at Cincinnati Parks to sustain the Cincinnati Conservation Stewards program. We participated in six volunteer trainings, helping teach volunteers skills like winter vine identification and removal, honeysuckle removal techniques and volunteer leadership.
We also began working with Mill Creek Alliance and Cardinal Land Conservancy to adopt similar volunteer management standards. We hope that by building collaborative capacity around this effort, it will make it easier for each organization to manage its land well and to offer excellent training opportunities to interested conservation volunteers in our region.
Looking Ahead
In the final days of 2025, our Conservation Program Manager, Sam Settlemyre, accepted a new job at Great Parks’ Shaker Trace Nursery. We’ve divided his responsibilities among our existing staff and are excited to see how our Conservation Program evolves with new people at the helm.
Two things we know for sure: We’re excited to bring Greenspace Guardians back in 2026 with a new cohort and a revised curriculum—as well as the expectation that it will be a flagship program of the CGC for years to come. We also have plans to continue growing native plants through our ReRooted program, incorporating even more volunteer support and education in the new year. Stay tuned for more!