Rangers are commissioned peace officers who provide safety and security by enforcing the park district's rules, regulations, state, and local laws.

After more than a year, Summit County Probate Judge Lewis D. Slusser finally appointed James Shaw, Maude I. Milar and Charles B. Raymond.

In June, as Akron celebrated its centennial, Seiberling publicly accepted the first gift of land – a small, triangular plot on N. Portage Path with 150 feet of frontage at the intersection of Merriman Road.

Present throughout the area are native wildflower species, flowers brought by immigrants from Europe, and weeds carried by man, horse and canal boat.

Ferdinand Schumacher, who is credited with introducing oatmeal to America by supplying it to Union troops during the Civil War, purchased a portion of the quarry in 1879.

In 1956, the Ohio Department of Natural Resources completed construction of a nearby dam, intended to create a reservoir for industrial water needs.

The meadows and forest shelter foxes, coyotes, raccoons, skunks, muskrats, rabbits, mice, voles and moles, along with many beautiful summer and fall wildflowers.

More than 175 bird species have been sighted in Firestone Metro Park, including various types of wrens, thrushes, warblers, woodpeckers, herons and ducks.

Brushwood Lake, a once-popular swimming spot before erosion and sedimentation forced its closing in 1956, was created by diverting the natural flow of the Furnace Run.

The award-winning environmental project recreated several thousand feet of habitat for aquatic wildlife and native fish, including a thriving population of rainbow darters, a sensitive species.

Birds spotted in Furnace Run Metro Park include a variety of owls, hawks, herons, warblers and waterfowl.

Downstream from the lake, the wet woods of sycamores, black walnuts, willows and shrubs welcome an occasional family of beavers.

Large trees exist on rock ledges and in wetlands within the conservation area, where fens and bogs are "protected" by poison sumac and swamp rose.

Liberty Park harbors countless rare and endangered species, including Indiana bats, marsh wrens, ospreys and bald eagles.

John Renner, an engineer who built many homes in Akron's Goodyear Heights area, also tried raising pigs on the southeast side of the lake.

Today, the sandy, acidic soils of Munroe Falls Metro Park permit the growth of flora that is typically uncommon in Summit County.

[12] ACTIVITIES: Hiking (Indian Spring Trail 2.2 miles), Basketball, Boat Rental, Cross-country Skiing, Fishing, Picnicking, Play Equipment, Sledding, Swimming, Tennis, Volleyball Many parks exist due to the foresight of a few visionary individuals, including F.A.

In the cool, shady ravines of Sand Run and its tributary streams, hemlocks, ferns, skunk cabbage and large colonies of horsetails grow.

The towering forest is home to red, gray, black and fox squirrels; screech, barred and great horned owls; and pileated woodpeckers.

Open fields, fence rows and a stately old barn, part of which dates back to the Civil War, are evidence of the park's former life as the Harter Dairy Farm.

Today, iron-laden water from the mine shafts feed into Silver Creek, coating the bottom of the stream with reddish-brown iron-oxide, yet fish, frogs and other animals thrive.

Today, east of Route 91 in Munroe Falls, the Bike & Hike Trail parallels a scenic section of the Cuyahoga River where great blue herons, Canada geese and a variety of ducks can be seen.

Barberton Area (Waterloo Road to Snyder Avenue): Plants that thrive in disrupted soils dominate along this 5.11-mile stretch; they include both native and invasive species.

In the early 1980s PPG began restoring the local environment, amending the lime deposits with nutrient-rich bio-solids, or sludge, from municipal wastewater treatment plants, a practice often used in farming.

The result: Wildlife, including painted turtles, ring-necked pheasants and white tailed deer, has returned to the reclaimed Lime Lakes.

Clinton Area (Center Road to the Stark County line): Along this 2.6-mile section the rich, often-saturated soil of the river floodplain supports an abundance of wildflowers from spring to fall, luring a variety of insects including many butterflies.

A number of tree species can be found along the trail, especially those which thrive in wet areas, including hackberry, elm, silver maple and swamp white oak.

Columbia Run flows through the area and supports several communities of coldwater fish, including southern redbelly dace, a rare minnow.

Corn can be seen growing off Everett Road and will eventually find its way to Szalay's Farm, a regional attraction for many people traveling through Cuyahoga Valley National Park.

This 122-acre conservation area was donated in 1974 by Waldo Semon, an employee of Akron's B.F. Goodrich Company who invented a way to make PVC (vinyl) useful.