Wayne works with partners to restore wetlands on the Ironton District
Brushpiles and tip-up mounds were placed in the pools to diversify habitat and facilitate development of a wooded wetland.
The Whitaker Wetland Restoration Project was completed using a variety of partners and an innovative design.
This past fall, the Wayne National Forest completed restoration of a 25-acre field to a complex of emergent and ephemeral wetlands. The project was accomplished through the cooperation of multiple partners who contributed both to the design and the funding of the project.
The Whitaker Wetland Restoration Project restored a 25-acre field to a complex of emergent and ephemeral wetlands that mimic the natural oxbows and shallow, scour-pool wetlands that historically occurred on the tract. To restore the area, we used an innovative design that addresses many of the maintenance costs and issues associated with traditional wetland restorations. This project restored rare and highly valuable wetland bird habitat in a state that has lost more than 90 percent of its wetlands since European settlement.
Many typical wetland restorations, including previous restorations on the Wayne National Forest, have been implemented by constructing high, steep-sided levees that surround a field, creating one large pool. These levees look unnatural, and are very costly to maintain because they are vulnerable to failure due to tree roots, muskrat damage, beaver management issues (e.g. plugged inlet/outlet pipes) and water control structure leaks. The deep pools created by this style of levee often support introduced fish, which significantly degrade the quality of habitat for ducks and herpetiles. The Whitaker wetland restoration implements a new design that addresses many of the above issues that are associated with older wetland restorations. The Whitaker wetland complex was designed as a series of natural looking pools similar to what likely occurred on the landscape prior to drainage efforts by early settlers. These shallow, natural-appearing wetlands pools will eventually provide a variety of wetland communities including open water, emergent wetland, mud flats, shrub-scrub and wooded wetlands. The low levees (generally no higher than 2.5 feet) with very shallow side slopes (20:1) visually blend into the surrounding ground, giving the field the appearance of having always been there. The shallow side slopes can support trees without risk of levee failure, and will not require annual maintenance by mowing. These low levees and shallow slopes will also deter tunneling muskrats, further reducing maintenance needs. The bottom of one of the wetland pool areas was shaped during construction to include tip-up mounds that will be planted to trees to facilitate development of a wooded wetland, further mimicking the conditions that likely occurred on the site prior to clearing and drainage by early settlers.
The Whitaker Wetland Restoration Project was accomplished by attracting multiple partners to the project. Kari Kirschbaum, Ironton District Wildlife Biologist and project leader, completed NEPA and design work, recruited partners, applied for grants and oversaw construction. Eddie Park, Wildlife Technician, monitored construction and did much of the survey work. The Ohio Department of Natural Resources, Ducks Unlimited and National Wild Turkey Federation each contributed funds, totaling $22,000, toward construction costs. Tom Biebighauser of the Forest Service San Dimas Technology & Development Center and the Daniel Boone National Forest helped design the project and supervise construction. Local partners, including the Ashland Federal Prison Camp and the West Virginia Native Plant Society committed over $8,000 in volunteer labor to monitor and install nest boxes, plant trees, and seed and mulch the levees.
Over the past decade, the Forest Service and its partners have restored 160 acres of wetland habitat on the Wayne National Forest. The Whitaker Wetland Restoration project is an example of our adaptive management efforts - learning from past restoration efforts and experimenting with new ideas. Our restoration costs have decreased over time, and habitat quality at these restored sites has increased as evidenced by species assemblages using the wetlands and by the vegetation index of biotic integrity data we have collected.