OCCA is offering this free program. Japanese knotweed (Reynoutria japonica) is a common invasive riparian plant seen in the Catskills. It can shade out other streamside plants and establish monocultures, lower water quality, and even damage infrastructure. Management of this plant can be tricky, but it is doable! Join CRISP Terrestrial Invasive Species Manager Dan…
Learn essential skills for responding to injuries and emergencies in remote outdoor environments. RSVP Required. $350 fee covers certification, textbook and supplies. Instructor Cody Delamarter, EMT; accommodations available. Contact pinelake@hartwick.edu for details. The course costs $350.
Celebrate the arrival of early spring with a guided nature walk at Silas Lane in Oneonta, designed especially for homeschool students and their families. We’ll explore the trails behind the soccer fields, looking for the first signs of the changing season—melting snow, emerging buds, returning birds, and tracks in softening ground. During our walk, we’ll…
Join OCCA on Friday evening, March 20, at Beaver Valley Campground for a tour of the early spring skies. If the skies are clear, we will see many of the spectacular winter stars, along with a harbinger of spring: the constellation Leo and its beautiful first-magnitude star, Regulus. Regulus is actually a multiple star system…
The Susquehanna Chapter of the Adirondack Mountain Club leads a guided hike every Tuesday at locations in and near Otsego County. Free and open to the public. See website for details. Meet at 9:45 am for a brief talk/sign in, hikes usually last until 11:30 or noon. If you have questions about hikes, please call…
Navigation & Forest Bathing: The Compass & The Quiet Ready to find your way and lose your stress? Join us to master the “Red in the Shed” compass trick to navigate the wilds of the Hartwick College Pine Lake campus. Free baseplate compass for all participants! RSVP required $5 suggested donation
Trace the history of the Susquehannock and Mohican peoples on this guided walk at the Hartwick College Pine Lake campus. Ethnoecologist Justin Wexler explores how Native land management shaped our local species and landscape. RSVP required. No fee. All welcome
Join OCCA for a spring nature walk at Emmons Pond Bog, one of Otsego County’s most unique natural areas. This homeschool-friendly program invites students and families to explore the bog trail at a time of seasonal transformation. As the landscape wakes from winter, we’ll look for early spring signs—including migrating birds, emerging amphibians, and the…
Join OCCA to journey from the sun to Pluto and back in a little over an hour! Dr. Erik Stengler of the Cooperstown Graduate Program guides us on a thousand-yard walk which models our solar system at a scale that is both relatable and awe-inspiring. Common objects such as bowling balls, peppercorns, and walnuts represent the…
Join Butternut Valley Alliance, Morris Rotary, Morris Central School, and the Upper Susquehanna Coalition for an Earth Day Community Clean Up on Saturday, April 18, from 10 a.m. to noon. We’ll meet at the Morris Central School main parking lot, then break into groups to help with projects around the village, including: • Plantings along…