Reviving a wetland to revitalize Lake Erie

The Great Black Swamp once stretched across 1,500 square miles from Fort Wayne, Indiana, to Sandusky, Ohio. Impressed by the land's richness, settlers in the late 19th century drained the wetland and converted it to highly productive agriculture. Sediment and nutrients from farm fields washed into the Maumee River and, ultimately, Lake Erie. Today, this contributes to toxic algal blooms in the lake, including the one causing the 2014 Toledo water crisis that deprived a half-million people of safe water for almost three days. Wetland scientists believe that restoring parts of the Great Black Swamp could help save Lake Erie from future algal blooms.

At over 393 acres, Forrest Woods Nature Preserve contains one of the highest quality remnants of the Great Black Swamp. The heart of the property, an old-growth forested wetland, was named the first Most Valuable Wetland by the Society of Wetland Scientists in 2016 for its exemplary function and service. This "wetland treasure" acts as a buffer to a high-intensity agricultural production area, storing runoff water and up-taking excess nutrients before they reach Lake Erie. Forrest Woods also is home to more than 30 rare, threatened and endangered species and is an Audubon Important Bird Area.

Through ongoing acquisition and restoration efforts, the accredited Black Swamp Conservancy is re-creating a functioning floodplain complex to create a cleaner Lake Erie and expand habitat to support larger and healthier wildlife populations. Efforts to date include restoring natural hydrology by removing drainage tile and de-channelizing more than 3,500 feet of stream and restoring ditched waterbodies to create vernal pools and wetlands. Black Swamp is transforming farm fields into aquatic, wetland and upland habitat with a goal of trapping as many nutrients as possible. Once restoration is complete, Black Swamp Conservancy will open the property to the public for recreational use including hiking and fishing.

Restoration is being made possible with grant funding from National Fish & Wildlife Foundation's Sustain Our Great Lakes Program, Ohio EPA's Surface Water Improvement Fund, U.S. EPA's Great Lakes Restoration Initiative and the Clean Ohio Conservation Fund.

Laura Eklov is Midwest program coordinator for the Land Trust Alliance.