Little River Wetlands Project

06/01/2026

Our volunteers showed up in force at Eagle Marsh East and helped us remove Dame's Rocket and treat plenty of invasive Buckthorn and Honeysuckle along our NEW trail at EME! When we pull noxious invasives like Dame's Rocket it's important to bag them and leave them in the sun so that their seeds will solarize and die.

These plants are so persistent they'll keep maturing even after you've pulled them and continue to spread up to 20,000 seeds per plant! So if you spot any Dame's Rocket or Garlic Mustard at home, be sure to bag them and leave them out to solarize to ensure you're not promoting their spread!

05/19/2026

This month at Volunbeering we transplanted over 800 native seedlings that we've been growing at Eagle Marsh! An assortment of Common Milkweed, Cardinal Flower, and Yellow Coneflower that when planted will go a long way towards bringing pollinators into the marsh. We also gave away another free appetizer to our "Frog Finder" and two free tickets to our biggest fundraising event of the year, Frogapalooza! Join us next month as we transplant more native seedlings!

05/15/2026

Thank you to our 2026 Frogapalooza sponsors!

Aqua, 3Rivers Federal Credit Union, LPL Financial, Steel Dynamics, Centier Bank, Fort Wayne Metals, Hagerman, EPCO

05/07/2026

Our Frogapalooza silent auction is ready to go. This year's theme is Wine, Wetlands, and Adventure. 23 adventures await attendees to Frogapalooza -- see them at https://www.lrwp.org/items

Frogapalooza is our annual fundraising gala. If you haven't bought tickets yet, visit https://www.lrwp.org/frogapalooza to do so. Hope to see you there!

05/05/2026

From shoveling soil to organizing plants in the nursery and avoiding the resident Mama Goose, our volunteers fully prepped us for our growing season! Our initiative, Seed to Marsh, engages volunteers and students in the process of growing native plants and using them for wetland restoration, so look forward for more chances this summer to learn about growing, collecting, and spreading native plants in the marsh!

05/04/2026

We’ve had a few questions and concerns about ticks on our preserves, so we wanted to share a quick note.

Ticks are a normal part of natural areas like Eagle Marsh. They live in tall grasses, leaf litter, and brushy edges, which are also really important habitat in a healthy wetland ecosystem.

That said, we know they’re not anyone’s favorite trail companion. A few simple things can help lower your chances of picking them up:

• Stay on mowed trails when you can
• Wear long pants tucked into socks or boots
• Use repellent if you like
• Do a quick tick check after your visit

Ticks don’t jump or fly, and most don’t attach right away, so a quick check after being outside really does go a long way.

Ticks can carry things like Lyme disease, which is the most commonly reported vector-borne illness in the U.S. It’s spread by blacklegged ticks (also called deer ticks). Symptoms can include fever, rash, fatigue, facial paralysis, and arthritis. Not every Lyme rash looks like a bullseye, so it’s worth paying attention if you’re feeling off after a bite or time outdoors and checking in with a medical provider if needed.

If you want a quick, surprisingly catchy breakdown of tick safety, this song does a pretty good job of it:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tFEMRu3m3qM&t=54s

Thanks for spending time outside and exploring the marsh with us. 🌱

05/04/2026

Field trip season has been in full swing at Eagle Marsh this spring and it’s been great getting so many students outside.

We’ve been watching the marsh green up, birds return, and life really ramp up again. One of the best parts has been pond dipping with students and finding things like dragonfly and damselfly larvae, aquatic sowbugs, and the occasional tadpole.

We’ve had groups from pre-K through college come out, and it’s always a good reminder of how important it is for kids to be outside learning about wetlands, not just reading about them. There’s something about getting their boots in the mud and seeing it all up close that really makes it stick.

04/29/2026

We are pleased to be featured as the Local Volunteer Spotlight in the The Waynedale News by the Volunteer Center Fort Wayne.

April showers might be necessary to bring May flowers, but this month has certainly brought a large amount of rain our way. Fortunately, we have our local wetlands to help absorb some of that floodwat

04/28/2026

Our volunteers came out in full force this Earth Day, tracking down all the invasive Garlic Mustard and Dame's Rocket throughout our trail system! We celebrated the earth by learning to identify and remove as many of these invasives as we could, allowing our native vegetation and wildlife to prosper! Then we headed to Trail 5 at Eagle Marsh to pull and bag boatloads of Black Mustard from the berm! Thank you to these hardworking volunteers for coming out and making a difference for the environment!