New Ohio Wetland Preserves Plants and Wildlife, Site for Education and Recreation

CANAL WINCHESTER -- A new section of wetlands at Pickerington Ponds Metro Park was once the envy of housing developers.

The park's latest addition features 370 acres of wetlands. The wetlands will help preserve plants and wildlife and serve as an educational resource and recreational haven for visitors.

Francine Murray said she is excited to explore the new area.

The 31-year-old Canal Winchester resident was one of 75 people in attendance for the dedication ceremony held at the wetlands on Sunday.

"It's important to preserve nature so we don't lose our natural resources," Murray said. "I plan to homeschool my children, and I want to have a place to bring them so I can teach them about toads, frogs and other animals."

Murray, who is training for a mini-marathon, said she also looks forward to running on the new trail, Blacklick Creek Greenway Trail, which connects with Portman Pond. In the near future, the trail will connect with Blacklick Woods Metro Park and Three Creeks Park.

The trail is a one-mile hard surface for walking, jogging and cycling and rollerblading.

Schools will be able to bring students to the wetlands to do aquatic studies, experiment and for fishing, said Peg Hanley, spokeswoman for Metro Parks.

A portion of the wetlands will be stocked with fish.

"Think about a day out here," Hanley said. "Instead of reading about it, you will be seeing it firsthand."

The new section previously served as farming land for more than 100 years; prior to that it served as wetlands. In 1950, some of the land began to revert to wetlands.

If not for the wetlands project, the area would have become the site of condominiums, said John O'Meara, executive director of Metro Parks.

"Seven or eight years ago, there was a proposed housing development here," O'Meara said. "A group of citizens raised an alarm as to what they thought would be a threat to Pickerington Ponds."

In 2000, the Metro Parks inquired about enrollment of some cropland within the park into the Wetlands Reserve Program. The Natural Resources Conservation Service, or NRCS, assisted the Metro Parks with an evaluation of the site and its restoration potential, O'Meara said.

Funding for the project was approved in July 2001, with the NRCS receiving $745,000 for easement acquisition and restoration activities.

Not only does the area serve as a natural habitat, but it's also important for flood control and water control, O'Meara said.

Columbus resident Jared McNeal said he is glad the land was restored. McNeal and his friend, Linda Patterson, were out to test out the new bike trail.

"We have enough places to live," said 51-year-old McNeal. "We need wildlife, plus it's nice to come out and see the wildlife instead of condominiums."

Animals that have taken up residence at the park include coyotes, foxes, snapping turtles, badgers, snakes, and various birds; of the 400 species of birds spotted in Ohio, 260 species have been spotted throughout the park's history.

The park even gets some birds that wouldn't ordinarily fly in, said Jim Giggi, park manager.

"We had a bald eagle a couple of weeks ago and five white pelicans flew in a few months ago," Giggi said. "That's very rare."

The park averages 50,000 (human) visitors a year, but these numbers are expected to double and triple with the new wetlands and trails, Giggi said.

The additional wetlands is the continuation of a dream dreamt long ago, said Susan Ellis-Liston of Worthington. Ellis-Liston attended the dedication with her two daughters and mother, Jane Ann Ellis of Upper Arlington.

Ellis-Liston's father, the late Bill Ellis helped start Pickerington Ponds in the 1970s. Ellis was chairman of The Nature Conservancy of Ohio.

"My dad would be so proud of this. This was his dream," said 46-year-old Ellis-Liston. "Dad was a lawyer, but this was his legacy."

Images: (TOP) Jennifer Liston (from left), 31, and her mother, Susan Ellis Liston, 46, watch as Stephanie Liston 17, all of Worthington, looks through a scope to view a family of geese at Pickerington Ponds Metro Park. (BELOW) A bird flies over the new Killdeer Trail inside Pickerington Ponds Metro Park in Canal Winchester.

Story by Tamaria L. Kulemeka and images by William P. Cannon, Eagle-Gazette.