Article published October 30, 2009
ODOT develops conservation sites along new U.S. 24
By DAVID PATCH
BLADE STAFF WRITER
LIBERTY CENTER, Ohio - At two spots along the new U.S. 24 that the Ohio Department of Transportation is building to improve human travel between Toledo and Napoleon, the agency best known for highway construction is developing conservation areas that, among other purposes, will be rest stops for birds.
To mitigate the loss of wetlands elsewhere on the corridor of the Fort to Port Highway, ODOT has acquired more than 135 acres in Henry County that will be restored to a natural state, including dozens of acres that have been converted into man-made wetlands.
More than a thousand young pin oak, red maple, silver maple, shellbark hickory, and swamp white oak trees have been planted at the two sites, along with several thousand seedlings of other tree species, shrubs, and grasses. The wet areas have been sown with a native mix of wetland seeds, while native prairie grasses have been planted in the upland areas, said John Baird, a specialist with the ODOT Office of Environmental Services in Columbus.
A "final inspection" is scheduled for today during which the Ohio Environmental Protection Agency and U.S. Army Corps of Engineers will check to ensure its standards have been met. But ODOT will continue to monitor the two sites, developed at a taxpayer cost of $2.4 million, to assess their progress and give reports to Ohio EPA and the Army Corps for at least five years, Mr. Baird said.
ODOT has developed about 40 sites across Ohio to mitigate the impacts of its highway projects.
"After five years, we may transfer them [the sites] to the Ohio Department of Natural Resources, or a parks agency, or a conservation group," he said. "Or we may keep them. One way or another, it's going to be around, and getting better and better all the time."One of the sites is along Dry Creek, the other along Turkeyfoot Creek. Next to the latter, ODOT also obtained a "conservation easement" over 14.45 acres belonging to a neighboring landowner, who will continue to own the land and be allowed to hunt on it, but may not clear it, cultivate it, or build on it.
No hunting will be allowed on the state-owned property, but access will be permitted for research or educational purposes, Mr. Baird said.
A similar state-built wetland along U.S. 33 near Lancaster, Ohio, remains under ODOT ownership and has become popular with bird-watchers, he said.
The Henry County sites are also expected to become habitat for deer, raccoon, and possum, among other land animals.
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