A story by Mike Meldon, co-founder and CEO of Love Our Land. This article is also featured in the August 4, 2023, issue of The Ripple.

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Love Our Land is a local nonprofit with a mission to reconnect people with nature and empower citizens with the skills and knowledge necessary to address the biodiversity crisis in their own neighborhoods and yards.  We are located in Loveland, Ohio but our intended reach is all of southwest Ohio.

Along with running my nonprofit and hosting a podcast, I’m a high school social studies teacher, a husband, and a father to three amazing kids—Anna (14), Cormic (11), and Emerson (8). Needless to say, my plate is pretty full, but I believe that we all can find time to give back if we really try.  

Growing up, I spent a lot of time playing in the creek and running through the woods with friends. Although I enjoyed being outside, it wasn't until I joined Loveland's Tree and Environment Committee in 2017 that I truly began to understand the importance of preserving and protecting our natural world.  

Doug Gilbert, co-founder of Love Our Land and myself, met on the committee and worked on several meaningful projects for our city, with a special focus on restoring the biodiversity loss that most green spaces are experiencing. We determined that the best way to move forward and bring back life to our natural environments was to remove the nonnative invasive species that plague our parks and forests and replace them with native species to heal the areas.

We formed a strategy and the city was very supportive with our efforts to fight the biodiversity crisis. We realized, however, that we would only be healing a small portion of the land in our town if our focus was only through the city committee on public lands. We needed to focus on private property in order to make a real impact since most of the land in our region is owned by private landowners or private businesses.

We decided that we would create an educational based environmental nonprofit with the focus of ‘reconnecting people and nature’ and the intent of them eventually choosing to make beneficial changes in their own yards through the removal of nonnative invasive species and the planting of natives.

Love Our Land was formed in 2020. It was a slow start due to the pandemic, but once we got our official nonprofit status in February of 2022, we were off and running. We adjusted our approach several times since we started, but the mission has always pretty much remained the same, “We seek to reconnect people and nature and in doing so, empower citizens with the skills and knowledge necessary to address the biodiversity crisis in their own neighborhoods and yards.”

Love our Land’s goal of reaching people is done in many different ways. First and foremost, we engage the public through nature walks and events. Our nature walks have included wildflower walks, bird walks, winter tree identification, mushroom hikes, and much more. Our family friendly events have included owl prowls, full moon hikes, and firefly outings. In our first year, we held over 25 of these walks and events—all FREE.

We realized soon enough that in order to be able to bring all of this to the public we would have to start to charge a minimal fee—and we found out quickly that most people are more than happy to pay it to attend. We also offer Love Our Land memberships where members get into all of these free and memberships also include a free short consultation for member’s own property.

Love Our Land also has a native seed and nature book library that is located in downtown Loveland. People can leave or take seeds that are native to the area. They can also leave or take a book that is nature based. This library is right along a popular bike trail and gets a lot of attention.

Since education is our primary mission, we offer at least one in person class a month and we have created an online school also where we will add classes as we progress through the year. Classes we have offered include: Mushrooms 101, Winter Tree ID, ‘How to Love Your Land: Biodiversity 101’, and ‘How to create a Biodiversity Island in your yard’.  

Our next big initiative is called Love Our Land's Youth Conservation Team. It’s a team lead by 5th-8th graders that will develop and implement their own conservation projects in the greater Loveland area to promote the health of local ecosystems. Additionally, they will spread the knowledge they gain by educating other youth in surrounding communities

In addition to Love Our Land, I also host the Loveland Weekly Podcast, which is aimed at enhancing the community of Loveland, where I live. It's a bite-sized podcast that discusses community issues, events, and common interests. The podcast comes out every Monday wherever people get their podcasts.

Overall, I am passionate about protecting our natural world and helping others do the same. Through Love Our Land and the Loveland Weekly Podcast, I hope to inspire others to take action and make a difference in their own communities. We have plenty of volunteer activities and positions in Love Our Land if interested.  Feel free to contact me at mike@loveourland.org.