Ohio Mixed Bag: CMP teams up with Oak Harbor Club for rimfire sporter match

Oak Harbor, Ohio – The Civilian Marksmanship Program (CMP) recently announced a partnership with the Oak Harbor Conservation Club in hosting a State Rimfire Sporter Rifle Match on June 21. The event is open to public participation, even those outside the state of Ohio.

Designed for all experience levels, the Rimfire Sporter Match utilizes smallbore rifles that weigh 7 1 ⁄2 pounds or less, with sights. Competition will be divided into three classes O-Class (open sights), T-Class (telescopes), and TU-Class (tactical). Firing is done at 50 and 25 yards in prone, sitting, and standing positions, in slow- and rapid-fire modes.

For this event, the CMP will be utilizing its eTarget system – set to be featured at the 2025 National Matches at Camp Perry. The match will be fired on the club’s indoor 50-yard range.

“The Oak Harbor Conservation Club has been a dedicated CMP affiliated club for years, and we thought assisting with this state rimfire event would be an excellent opportunity to lend our own support to this wonderful organization,” said Sara Rozanski, CMP Highpower Rifle Coordinator.

Sign up for the Oak Harbor Conservation Club 2025 Rimfire Sporter Match by contacting Chuck Yarletts at cyarletts3@gmail.com.

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ODNR DEDICATES 151ST NATURE PRESERVE

Whitehouse, Ohio — The Ohio DNR (ODNR) and Metroparks Toledo recently dedicated Girdham Road Dunes as Ohio’s 151st state nature preserve. Owned and managed by Metroparks Toledo, the new preserve is part of Oak Openings Preserve Metropark in Lucas County and harbors several rare habitats and species.

Girdham Road Dunes is a unique remnant of the Oak Openings Region and protects open sand dunes and oak barren habitats. The Oak Openings Region is an area that covers a sandy, five-mile-wide swath, stretching from southwest Michigan more than 80 miles through Lucas, Henry, Fulton, and Wood counties in Ohio.

At a signing ceremony held at the Buehner Center, ODNR Division of Natural Areas and Preserves Chief Jeff Johnson joined Metroparks Toledo Director Dave Zenk as he signed the articles of dedication for the new preserve. After the ceremony, guests travelled to Girdham Road Dunes for a ribbon cutting and guided hike.

“For nearly 100 years, our agency has had the honor of preserving and managing some of Ohio’s most significant natural areas, and none are more significant than the Oak Openings,” Zenk said. “Together with ODNR and regional partners that make up the Green Ribbon Initiative, we are protecting this distinct eco-region that The Nature Conservancy named ‘One of the 200 Last Great Places on Earth.’ Being designated a state nature preserve adds an additional layer of protection and prominence to one of Ohio’s natural jewels.”

The new preserve also harbors the only drifting sand dunes in the Oak Openings region. More than two dozen rare species, including the state endangered lark sparrow and Missouri rock cress, can be found amidst its 19 acres.

PYMATUNING WILDLIFE CENTER IN WORKS

Harrisburg, Pa. — The Pennsylvania Game Commission recently broke ground on a new Pymatuning Wildlife Learning Center. Construction is to be completed next spring, with a grand opening planned for spring of 2027.

Like the previous wildlife center, which closed in 2014 after more than 75 years in operation, the new facility will be located on Ford Island. But the new center will be a much larger, more modern, and more user-friendly than its predecessor.

The new center will, inside its walls, encompass 9,000 square feet of floor space. That will make it 450% bigger than the old wildlife visitor center. The exhibit area, meanwhile, will be about 400% larger.

While design work is still underway, with final decisions on the exact lineup of exhibits to be determined, visitors can expect a variety of informative and interactive displays, some permanent, some seasonal and/or rotating, focusing on wildlife, hunting, forestry and more. The centerpiece will be a life-sized eagle nest.

There will also be an auditorium and large windows for wildlife viewing, too.

Ford Island is located on the shore of Pymatuning Lake, the largest reservoir in the state.

The Game Commission, meanwhile, owns and manages the adjacent Pymatuning Wildlife Management Area, comprised of State Game Lands 214, a controlled hunting area, and a wildlife propagation area.

LEAVE YOUNG WILDLIFE IN THE WILD

Columbus — With the arrival of warm weather, young wildlife appears in backyards, local parks, and unexpected areas, according to the Ohio DNR (ODNR) Division of Wildlife. Keep wildlife wild by observing young animals from a distance and reducing interactions with them.

Wildlife parents are devoted to their young and rarely abandon them. A young animal’s best chance of survival is with its mother. Usually, young wildlife observed alone are not orphaned or abandoned, but are waiting for a parent to return. Watch these young animals from a distance and avoid intervening without guidance from a wildlife professional. Most wildlife taken in by people other than trained and licensed wildlife rehabilitators do not survive despite the good intentions of their rescuers.

— compiled from DNR, Staff, and Wire reports