As native plant gardeners, we all know to expect change from season to season, and year-to-year. What thrived last year, didn’t pop up this year, or the spring ephemerals slowly fading to make room for the heavy hitter, summer pollinator plants. With our chapter’s recent leadership change, we’ve also updated our chapter name to: Erie Drift Plains. If you’ve followed us before, you probably knew us as the Youngstown Area Chapter (and you might see a couple things still labeled Youngstown as we navigate this transition)—and if you’re wondering why the name has changed, you’re in the right place.
Why the New Chapter Name?
Over the past few years, our community has grown beyond the borders of Youngstown, OH. We’ve had volunteers, members, and native plant lovers join us from across northwestern Pennsylvania and northeastern Ohio. From Trumbull and Mahoning Counties in Ohio to Mercer County in Pennsylvania, it became clear: our name should reflect the full beauty and biodiversity of the area we actually serve.
Our new chapter director, Bobbi, lives just over the Ohio border in the northwestern part of Pennsylvania (about a 30 minute drive to Youngstown). And when she was gifted the opportunity of chapter director, we thought it was as good a time as any to EXPAND our reach beyond the Youngstown area and include more of the communities in throughout our region.
Enter: the Erie Drift Plains.
This name change does more than give us a broader label to reach more of our community members—it roots us in a distinct ecological identity.
The Erie Drift Plains is a recognized ecoregion, shaped by glacial history and home to rich wetlands, diverse forests, rolling farmland, and incredible native plant diversity. It’s an identity that connects our landscapes, watersheds, and wildlife across county and state lines.
What Stays the Same
We’re still committed to everything that made the Youngstown Area Chapter special:
- Supporting local habitat restoration projects
- Educating the public about the benefits of native plants
- Creating community events, garden tours, and plant sales
- Offering resources to help people make ecologically sound landscaping choices
Our passion for native plants, pollinators, and place-based stewardship hasn’t changed—we’ve simply grown into a name that better matches our reach and our roots.
What This Means for You
If you live in any of the following counties, this chapter is for you:
- Ohio: Mahoning, Trumbull, Ashtabula
- Pennsylvania: Erie, Crawford, Mercer, Venango, Lawrence, Warren, Clarion, and Forest
Whether you’re just starting to explore native gardening or have been nurturing your habitat for decades, we’re here to support you. We aim to be a hub for community connection, ecological learning, and hands-in-the-dirt action.
Since our previous director had established many connections within the Youngstown area, some of our initial events might be more focused in the Youngstown, OH area, but the vision will be a hybrid approach of in-person and remote events, that span throughout the counties that we serve.
Our Hope & Vision
Our mission remains the same: to inspire people to plant and protect native species and restore natural landscapes.
We believe that by deepening our connection to place—and to each other—we can rebuild resilient ecosystems one yard, park, or field at a time.
By embracing a broader identity tied to the Erie Drift Plains, we hope to:
- Reach more people who care about the environment but may not have felt represented before
- Unite our region through a shared ecological heritage
- Celebrate the diversity of native species across this beautifully varied ecoregion
- Uplift voices and stories from a broader range of communities
Let’s Grow Together
Whether you’re in the heart of Youngstown, the forests of Clarion, or the wetlands of Erie County—we’re glad you’re here. We invite you to join us in learning, planting, and connecting across our shared landscape.
Here’s to new growth, strong roots, and a future filled with native blooms.
Thanks for being part of this next chapter (literally). We can’t wait to see what we’ll grow together—from milkweed patches in a roadside ditch to full-scale rain gardens and meadow restorations. Native plants heal land, connect people, and bring back balance. And the Erie Drift Plains is the perfect place to do it.
Want to get involved? You can join our chapter to help spread native plants in our area! Stay tuned as we get our newsletter, social media, and events calendar up and running. We’re just getting started—and we’d love to grow with you.
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Thank you for reading—and for being part of a brighter, wilder future.