Also In this Issue Beaver Creek Wetlands Association The Spotted Turtle Volume 26, No. 4 Fall 2012 www.beavercreekwetlands.org President’s Message ..................... 2 Updates ........................................ 3 Park Levy ..................................3-4 Volunteer Activity .....................4-5 Our Watershed...........................6-8 Ohio’s Streams ..........................8-9 ConqueringAlien Invaders .... 10-11 Calendar Work parties every Saturday until it gets too cold! 9 am–12 noon Check our website for the latest special events and volunteer opportunities. Combined Federal Campaign (CFC) BCWA’s number: 72199 Please remember to designate BCWA in your giving plans! Photo by Richard Swigart For the past three summers, BCWA volunteers have worked diligently on constructing boardwalk at Koogler Wetland/Prairie Reserve to allow visitors to experience this Beavercreek Township park year round without getting mired in mud. In 2010, 346’ of boardwalk was constructed through the fen and sedge meadow on the north part of the loop trail. In 2011, working clockwise around the loop, four separate sections were construct- ed through the wet woods, adding another 399’. And now, in 2012, another 488’ has been added, extend- ing one of the sections built last year, and creating a new section winding through the wet woods. In addition, two benches were constructed—one at about the halfway point, and the other strategically placed at the junction of Phase III of boardwalk construction is now complete! different habitats for optimum bird watching. The new boardwalk continues the sweeping curve design of the original sections. But that design evidently was not challenging enough—an “s-curve” was constructed in the new section, requiring construction of a water box to soak the 16’ stringers in order bend them in that shape! Conditions in spring or after a heavy rain determined placement of boardwalk or aggregate trail—board- walk was constructed where there was flowing or standing water over the trail, geotextile fabric covered by crushed stone was placed where it was merely muddy, and the trail was mowed where it remained passable for most of the year. There will still be times after a heavy rain when the trail Koogler Reserve wetland trail at a glance: Total length: 3212’ (0.6 miles) Grass trail 1301’ (41%) Aggregate 678’ (21%) Boardwalk 1233’ (38%) will be impassable for a few days ex- cept for the most adventurous visitors. Materials and funding came from several sources. Beavercreek Town- ship supplied the geotextile fabric and crushed stone for the trail, and also the materials for the foundation of the boardwalk--the 16’ boards used as stringers. BCWA purchased the remaining materials with funding from a Beavercreek Forward Founda- Continued on page 2 > SPECIAL REPORT: OUR WATERSHED > page 6
CalendarWork parties every Saturday until it gets too cold! 9 am–12 noon
Check our website for the latest special events and volunteer opportunities.
Combined Federal Campaign (CFC)
BCWA’s number: 72199Please remember to designate
BCWA in your giving plans!
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For the past three summers, BCWA volunteers have worked diligently on constructing boardwalk at Koogler Wetland/Prairie Reserve to allow visitors to experience this Beavercreek Township park year round without getting mired in mud. In 2010, 346’ of boardwalk was constructed through the fen and sedge meadow on the north part of the loop trail. In 2011, working clockwise around the loop, four separate sections were construct-ed through the wet woods, adding another 399’. And now, in 2012, another 488’ has been added, extend-ing one of the sections built last year, and creating a new section winding through the wet woods. In addition, two benches were constructed—one at about the halfway point, and the other strategically placed at the junction of
Phase III of boardwalk construction is now complete!
different habitats for optimum bird watching.
The new boardwalk continues the sweeping curve design of the original sections. But that design evidently was not challenging enough—an “s-curve” was constructed in the new section, requiring construction of a water box to soak the 16’ stringers in order bend them in that shape!
Conditions in spring or after a heavy rain determined placement of boardwalk or aggregate trail—board-walk was constructed where there was flowing or standing water over the trail, geotextile fabric covered by crushed stone was placed where it was merely muddy, and the trail was mowed where it remained passable for most of the year. There will still be times after a heavy rain when the trail
Koogler Reserve wetland trail at a glance: Total length: 3212’ (0.6 miles)
will be impassable for a few days ex-cept for the most adventurous visitors.
Materials and funding came from several sources. Beavercreek Town-ship supplied the geotextile fabric and crushed stone for the trail, and also the materials for the foundation of the boardwalk--the 16’ boards used as stringers. BCWA purchased the remaining materials with funding from a Beavercreek Forward Founda-
Look what we did!I love it when I get to brag about
a project on its completion. I really love it when that project makes me shake my head in amazement. The best projects, though, are those that involve so many people and organi-zations and can be celebrated by all of us. This one is all three.
After many years of planning and construction, the 0.6 mile marsh loop trail and boardwalk are complete at Koogler Wetland/Prairie Reserve. This trail was no small feat. In coor-dination with Beavercreek Township, this project took over 3 years to com-plete, required around 750 volunteer hours, grants from both The Dayton Foundation and Beavercreek For-ward Foundation, and very generous donations from our members. (Read even more details about this project
Spotted Turtle Name and Logo: Noted area wildlife artist Char-ley Harper generously donated the art for our logo in 1988. His work has been adopted by the National Park Service and is appreciated worldwide. Our newsletter recognizes the Spotted Turtle as an icon for the many rare animals and plants protected in the Beaver Creek Wetlands.
Submissions, Questions, or Comments: We rely on members likeyou to make this newsletter the product of several diverse voices. If you have an
Founded in 1988, the Mission of the Beaver Creek Wetlands Association is to protect the wetland ecosystem in the Beaver Creek watershed through partnerships, community networks, and public education.
Northern Pearly-eye butterflies, one of only seven species seen on the July butterfly survey due to unfavorable weather conditions.
tion grant, remaining funds from a grant from The Dayton Founda-tion, proceeds from BCWA’s 2011 fall fundraising campaign, and two generous donations from long-time BCWA supporters.
Under the direction of trustee Jim Schneider, boardwalk and trail builders included Deb Adams, Jim Amon, Skip Beehler, Ann Byrd, Bill Byrd, Matt Cary, Paul Copper, Val-
> Boardwalk Phase III cont’d
in the article starting on page 1.This project was truly a team ef-
fort and one I hope that you and all of our members will visit and say, “Wow, look what we did!”
So, if you have never been to Koogler Wetland/Prairie Reserve, there is no better time. Go to our website www.beavercreekwetlands.org, download a map from our Loca-tions/Maps section and head out to Koogler Reserve to see what all the fuss is about. If you have been visiting Koogler and have seen our progress, come out and walk the boardwalk without all our construction materials.
This new trail and boardwalk will be an asset to our community for a long time and this project is one that I will proudly say, “Look what we did!”
See you in the wetlands!
Rob EvansBCWA President
erie Copper, Lois Gschwender, Greer Harewood, Debbie Karr, Joe Lehman, Shailaja Mahalingam, Neeraja Mahal-ingam, Al Munoz, Beth Salazar, Dave Scott, Inok Semon, Richard Swigart, Hitesh Trivedi, Rudra Trivedi, Dhira Venkatramani, and Sadhvi Venkatra-mani. These volunteers have in-vested a total of 67 hours in prep work (precutting and hauling lumber), 382 hours in boardwalk construction, and 215 hours (and still counting) in trail building.
Since conditions have been so dry this summer, many visitors have asked why a boardwalk was even necessary. The dry ground certainly made construction easier! Although the design of the boardwalk is very appealing and entices visitors to explore just to see what is around the next bend, I’m afraid it will not be fully appreciated until the rains return!
—Debbie Karr (with data pro-vided by Jim Schneider)
idea for an article or a picture to include, please send them to [email protected]. Also, we welcome any comments or questions. For submissions, questions, or comments, please include “newsletter” in the subject line of your e-mail. We reserve the right to edit for content or clarity.
Donations of Land/Easements: If you are interested in donating land, placing an easement on property, or re-membering the BCWA in your will, please don’t hesitate to call the Beaver Creek
Wetlands Association at (937) 320-9042.
BCWA Annual Report: Copies are available by request. E-mail the office at [email protected] or call (937) 320-9042.
See this newsletter in full color online at www.beavercreekwetlands.org 3
News
Photo by Rob Evans
Donation AcknowledgementThank you to Kosins Party & Tent Rental of Centerville for the dona-tion of two large used tents. These items are being recycled for invasive control and have already been put to use to smother a large patch of non-native sweetflag at one of the wet-land sites. At another site, similar materials are being used to smother a dense stand of Phragmites. If you have a pool cover, large tarp, or tent to donate, please contact [email protected].
Hunting and SafetyBeaver Creek Wildlife Area on New Germany Trebein Road and Sieben-thaler Fen on Fairground Road are owned by Ohio Department of Natu-ral Resources, Division of Wildlife. They are both designated as Wildlife Areas and public hunting, fishing, and trapping are permitted in season. Please be aware of this when using the trails and boardwalks in these areas—wearing brightly colored clothing is strongly recommended during hunting season.
BCWA Volunteers take part in LMR clean upOn June 23, nine members of the Little Beaver Creek crew, joined by two other BCWA volunteers, took time off from their regular Saturday morning land management activities to take part in the “Clean Sweep” of the Little Miami River, organized by the Little Miami River Keepers. We thought it was appropriate to par-ticipate in this event, as the Beaver Creek and Little Beaver Creek and their adjacent wetlands where we focus our efforts are part of the Little Miami River watershed.
The river was divided into several sections with a volunteer team assigned to each. We chose
Beavercreek Parks LevyThe mission of the Beaver Creek Wetlands Association is to protect the wetland ecosystem in the Beaver Creek watershed through partner-ships, community networks and public education. BCWA promotes the use of these protected areas for education, research and recreation.
Since its formation in 1988, the Beaver Creek Wetlands Association has facilitated the conservation of over 2000 acres along the Beaver Creek and Little Beaver Creek. The alliance with strong community partners has been the key to our success. Please consider this when voting on the Beavercreek parks levy this November.
Rob EvansPresident, BCWA
The following is a letter from the Su-perintendent of Beavercreek Parks, Recreation and Culture to BCWA members and supporters who reside in the City of Beavercreek or Beaver-creek Township
Park Levy—Think green this NovemberParks and green space provide sub-stantial environmental benefits. The environmental and economic benefits of a strong park system have signifi-cant impact on increased real estate values, energy savings, improved air quality and storm water manage-ment. Active living promotes good health. Benefits can include personal growth and development and social
to clean up the section between Glen Thompson Reserve and the Narrows Reserve. Three “landlubbers” stayed behind to clean up the parking areas at each reserve and help with other activities, while the rest of us launched canoes and headed down river, pick-ing up many tires and the usual cans and plastic bottles that are discarded everywhere. This section of river had several large logjams, one of which required a long portage. We were later
informed that the Glen Thompson team pulled the most trash out of the river; unfortunately, we also left the most behind, for the logjams were full of trash and debris, but were just too dangerous to work around.
It sounds as though the BCWA volunteer crew is already looking forward to participating in this event again next year—there has been discussion on how to safely tackle those logjams!
Continued >
Our Bug Bingo netted a number of young participants this year. Thanks to our volunteers for organizing and leading the activity.
Volunteer Activity Little Beaver Creek Crew In late spring, the volunteer crew planted eighty native shrubs in Hagenbuch Reserve near Beavercreek Station on both sides of the Little Beaver Creek to replace the non-native honeysuckle that had been previously removed. That means eighty shrubs needed to be watered regularly to ensure survival during this long, dry summer! Water-ing was done by “bucket brigade”—dipping 5-gallon buckets into the creek, then hauling them up the bank to the bikeway on the north side, or up a hill on the south side. The plantings are not exactly thriving, but at least they are still alive! Plantings at Creekside Reserve and Little Beaver Creek Prai-rie (LBCP) were also watered in this man-ner. When not watering shrubs, the crew worked on invasive plant removal—a hillside of teasel was removed at LBCP, and the tarps and pool covers used to solarize the large sweet flag patch at Hershner Reserve were moved to another section. The
and cultural benefits. Recreation for people of all ages provides an opportunity to become connected with neighbors, meet new friends and connect with nature. Over-whelming evidence demonstrates the benefits of our Parks.
On November 6, voters will be asked to support the passage of a 1.4 mil levy for the continuation of Parks and Recreation Services in Beavercreek City and Township. Based on $100,000 valuation, the estimated cost for the levy will be less than $43 per year or approxi-mately $3.58 per month. The levy will be used to replace reductions in State funding and will maintain ex-isting service. The City, Township and Park District are acting now to replace the lost revenue to ensure quality services are maintained now and in the future. These three separate governmental entities have unanimously agreed to consolidate their efforts into one coordinated organization to manage our Parks, Recreation and Senior Services. The initiative will maintain the cur-rent level of programming, main-tenance and senior services that is currently enjoyed. Support of this levy will allow the current partner-ships with groups like the Beaver Creek Wetlands Association and other volunteers, athletic organiza-tions, nonprofits, neighborhoods, developers and other governmental agencies to continue to be a prior-ity. This initiative reaffirms the commitment of the elected and ap-pointed officials and policy makers for safe places to play, support for senior programming and transporta-tion, natural and historic settings and an affirmation of the value that is provided to our residents and business community by these services.
Sincerely,Michael P. Thonnerieux, CPRP(937) 427-5514www.ci.beavercreek.oh.us
bare ground remaining after solariza-tion was then seeded and planted with plugs of wetland plants. In late sum-mer, the volunteer crew began main-tenance of Zimmerman Prairie, a small site owned by Ohio Department of Natural Resources located along Creekside Trail. We began by remov-ing woody invasives and girdling trees under the power lines. A portion of the fence line has been cleared, so users of Creekside Trail can now get a glimpse of the prairie as they walk or
bike by the site. Under the direction of Don Gei-ger, volunteers included Deb Adams, Jim Amon, Nancy Bain, Jim Byrd, Skip Beehler, Matt Cary, Aaron Deckard, Lois Gschwender, Debbie Karr, Scott Mayhew, Al Munoz, Jim Schneider, Richard Swigart, and Tom Whitman.
Koogler Wetland/Prairie Reserve In ad-dition to boardwalk and trail building (see related article), repairs were made to the observation deck, buttonbushes were planted in the swamp, and seeds were collected for habitat restoration elsewhere in the wet-lands corridor.
Other Sites Rou-tine trimming occurs
Jim Amon sprays while Jim Schneider drives and Skip Beehler directs traffic. Below, more signs of progress.
See this newsletter in full color online at www.beavercreekwetlands.org 5
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several times during the growing season to keep the boardwalk passable at Siebenthaler Fen. The informa-tion kiosk here received a much needed update—the new Beaver Creek Wetlands brochures were placed, and new photographs replaced those faded by the sun. Restoration work contin-ues on the conservation easement in Beavercreek Township. A sched-uled planting was postponed to treat resprouting reed canary grass multiple times with grass specific herbicide,
Volunteer ExperiencesThe Hawk and the Caterpillar The Saturday morning BCWA work crew had just finished a tree removal ses-sion at Zimmerman Prairie under the direction of Don Geiger. We were getting into our cars in a parking lot near a wooded area when Debbie Karr excitedly pointed out a large Red-tailed Hawk about 10 feet from us in a tree crotch about two feet off of the ground. The hawk was looking down at something and didn’t seem to mind the humans clustered around admiring him. He flew off, however, when a man on a riding mower got a few feet from him. The hawk stayed close in a tree allowing Richard Swigart, almost always armed with one of his cameras, to snap the photograph shown here. The man mowing said he sees the hawk often in the area. We then went to see what had interested the hawk
and found a beautiful four- inch long green cater-pillar heading down the tree. Richard retrieved a caterpillar book from the field guide collection in his truck and identified it as a Pandora sphinx cater-
pillar that uses Virginia creeper vine, which was growing on the tree, as one
of its host plants. (The Pandora sphinx is a large moth that is beautifully marked in olive green and peach color.) Don remarked that the caterpillar was head-ing down the tree to pupate. We were concerned that the mower would inad-vertently smash it so Don took it to an unmowed area. The BCWA work crew had two exciting close-up looks at nature and the only one who wasn’t happy was the Red-tailed Hawk interrupted from his tasty green snack!
—Lois Gschwender
Flying Jewels In mid-August, I was crossing the Little Beaver Creek at a riffle near the North Fairfield Road bridge, carrying 5-gallon buckets to water the shrubs on the south side of the creek, when I found myself sur-rounded by damselflies. There were flashes of iridescent green and blue as they flitted about, landing on rocks and streamside vegetation. These were Ebony Jewelwings (the one species that I can identify). There were other species as well, with varying black and sapphire blue markings. One species that I had never seen before caught my eye. It was striking—dark red head and thorax with a fiery red patch on each wing, intensified when backlit by the early morning sun. They were everywhere! After a later check of a field guide, I learned they were Ameri-
seeds of early maturing sedges have been collected and sown where a patch of Phragmites has been solarized, and buttonbushes have been planted in the wettest portion of the restoration area. In addition, trees damaged by the June storms along the boundary of the 21-acre planted prairie were removed. Volunteers for these activities include Carol Amon, Jim Amon, Skip Beehler, Jim Byrd, Matt Cary, Rob Evans, De-nise Fong, Lois Gschwender, Jennifer Howard, Debbie Karr, Jim Schneider,
Inok Semon, and Richard Swigart. Thank you!—Debbie Karr
Volunteers are needed for fall activities—assisting with guided hikes for groups, seed collection, planting, and honeysuckle removal. Please contact [email protected] if you would like to participate in these activities.
can Rubyspots, which inhabit sunny streams and rarely wander far from the water’s edge. So you almost have to be standing in the creek or on one of the gravel bars to observe them. Rich-ard Swigart was working elsewhere this particular morning, so there was no photographer nearby. Fortunately, he made time to visit the site to record the image below.
—Debbie Karr
Clockwisefrom top: Red-tailed Hawk, American Rubyspot damselfly and Pandora Sphinx caterpillar
Hey Kettering, Oakwood, Dayton, and Fairborn: You’re part of the wetlands too!You don’t have to be in Beavercreek to be part of the Beaver Creek Watershed
Watersheds comprise all the land from which water flows toward a particular creek or river. The watershed contain-ing the Beaver Creek Wetlands covers over 20 square miles that flows to two creeks that empty into the Little Miami River. Further downstream it all joins the Ohio River east of Cincinnati.
Surprisingly, our watershed stretch-es far beyond Beavercreek to include large parts of Dayton, Oakwood, Ket-tering and Fairborn. It nearly reaches to Yellow Springs, Xenia, Bellbrook, Centerville, and Wright State, sprawl-ing across Greene and Montgomery counties. So a lot more people than you might think are really part of the Beavercreek Wetlands.
Two sub-watersheds empty our wetlands into the Little Miami River. The more familiar watershed that starts in Fairborn serves the Beaver Creek and most of our wetland locations. What you might not know is that the other watershed has headwaters far to the west in Oakwood and Kettering, forming the Little Beaver Creek.
Most of the year water follows ditches, gutters, roads and small channels that converge on these two creeks. Other water from rainfall, irrigation, watered lawns and such works its way into gravel-rich soils left by the glaciers. While most surface water in the creeks bypasses the wetlands, the under-ground water discharges into the wetlands, filtered by gravels, plant roots and beneficial microbes.
In late winter and spring frozen ground in the Dayton area forces more water to the creeks, so higher rainfall during this time often leads to flooding—a contributing factor to the great 1913 flood. But at these times a wonderful thing also happens. Most of the Beaver Creek Wetlands are in the flood plain of the two creeks. When large floods fill the flood plains, water moves back into the ground in places where it normally discharges as springs and seeps. This water is again filtered and cleaned, purifying it as it moves to the aquifer. That aquifer is the sole source of drinking water for almost all of the Miami Valley.
So Kettering, Oakwood, Fairborn and Beavercreek: be careful of the wa-ter you let flow to the watershed. One way or another it reaches the wetlands, either in streams flowing through it or as part of the great underground aquifer that feeds both the wetlands, and all of us.
And where is all of this happen-ing? It’s right in your backyard. Our map gives some indication. (For more, compare our watershed map to Google Maps or Mapquest.)
The “big” Beaver Creek runs north-south from Fairborn down to the Little Miami. Northern Beavercreek and part of Fairborn flow into this.
So let’s start at 675 just north of the Fairfield Commons Mall. The edge of the watershed heads east, crossing the highway into southeastern Fairborn around the Five Points neighborhood and angles over to where route 235 crosses I-675 near Oakes Quarry. The northeast corner of the watershed continues out along 235 into Bath Township, includes the town of Byron and then follows a ridge that lies mostly east of Trebein Road, running south until it angles southwest along Ankeney Rd. It continues past our BCWA offices at the Coy House in Phillips Park and the township fire station and down Orchard Lane across US35.
Returning to Fairfield Commons Mall, we can trace the watershed boundary west and south as water begins flowing to the Little Beaver Creek. The watershed’s edge angles across New Germany-Trebein to Grange Hall, to Kemp, to I-675 and US35, includ-ing nibbles of various neighbor-
hoods along the way. The northwest corner of Beavercreek is the exception, which flows towards Mad River. Bicyclists who’ve ridden
See this newsletter in full color online at www.beavercreekwetlands.org 7
Creekside Trail will remember how it crests at the county line just west of 675 and 35. That crest is the edge of the watershed. From there the boundary continues along Dayton-Xenia Road past Carroll High
School and on through Belmont.
Even more of the
Little Beaver
Creek forms from
water flowing from parts of Oakwood,
Belmont/East Dayton, and Riverside. From there water
in gullies and underground culverts reach streams in Ket-
tering east of Shroyer, north of David Road and following a southern
boundary that meanders roughly from Meijer to The Greene.
Southern Beavercreek east of I-675 also flows to the Little Beaver Creek, from a ridgeline meandering back and forth across Indian Ripple, through Tara Estates, down the last bit of Shakertown
Road and to the point where the Little Beaver Creek and Beaver Creek meet before joining the Little Miami River.
Why does it all matter? The wetlands quietly provide natural environmental services to help purify that water, filter and replenish the groundwater, and drain the excess
safely to avoid flooding. The wetlands are your invisible
groundskeeper, plumber and home insurance
policy, and when keeping our wetlands healthy
can actually reduce the municipal costs for
water treatment—mean-ing lower taxes potentially.
Regardless of where exactly you live within your town
or city, part of your com-munity’s environmental tab is
covered by the wetlands. Streams are really part of the infrastructure of the communities they pass through.
Interestingly, the Beaver Creek seems to carry less water and rarely becomes erosive like the Little Beaver Creek. The answer is that many lots in the watershed of Fairborn and Bea-vercreek have lots of green space that helps water infiltrate below ground. The higher population density in Oak-wood and Kettering, along with wide streets and sidewalks, supports much less infiltration to the ground. The extra concrete prevents water from entering the ground and becoming part of our groundwater resources.
So it’s nice to step back and appreciate the unsung services your wetlands provide. One great way is to literally step outside and take a mo-ment to breathe in nature. Turn off the electronics for a little while (even if you’re reading this online. Go explore some of the hidden boundaries of your world.
More people than you think influ-ence the Beaver Creek watershed. You probably know family, friends and/or coworkers who live in some of the sur-rounding areas that flow into the wet-lands, in what’s called our watershed. Pass the word and encourage them to explore what are their wetlands too.
—Mark Martel
LMI celebrates 45 years of conservation in watershed
For those of you who had the pleasure of knowing Glenn Thompson, Dayton Journal Herald Newspaper editor and founder of Little Miami Inc. (LMI), you know that he liked to see organi-zation and progress in his pursuits and dreams.
Fortunately for the Little Miami, Glenn loved this river and was a con-vincing leader who could make things happen in Washington DC, Columbus and locally. Bringing together a group of respected leaders to form Little Miami Inc. was just Glenn’s cup of tea, and we are all the better and wiser for his work. Glenn’s dream was a “corri-dor of green” along the Little Miami. In those early years relatively few people knew and loved the river. Encouraging public appreciation and understand-ing was one of LMI’s early goals. It remains so with new generations.
Protection and restoration of a river resource is better understood that it once was. Back in the 1960’s there was no Ohio EPA. There was no US EPA. There was no Ohio Scenic River’s Program. There was no National Wild & Scenic Rivers System or Clean Water Act. All of these major stepping stones were challenges, and challenges that a young LMI organi-zation was happy to meet and play a leading role in helping achieve. As the years rolled on it became clear that local environmental challenges “on the ground” were going to take some time to correct, and early LMI leaders quickly realized that impacts on Glenn’s “corridor of green” were scattered along the Little Miami and throughout a 1 million acre watershed.
Water quality in the Little Miami and its tributaries were all tied to-gether. Work began on pressing for the upgrading of wastewater treat-ment plants throughout the watershed. Today the relationship of phosphorus loading to river ecosystems is well un-derstood and the Little Miami could be called a “poster child” of that impact and a “success story” in meeting that challenge. With leadership and coop-
8 Spotted Turtle—Fall 2012
eration at the local, state and federal levels, phosphorus pollution has been addressed by reducing loading from treatment plants to 1 mg/l, and through a comprehensive farm bill effort to foster conservation on the fields that make up 80% of the watershed.
Forty-five years ago, the vast majority of the Little Miami ecosys-tem was severely stressed. Today all but 3 miles (down by Cincinnati) of this 103 mile river is restored to full attainment of Ohio’s biological and chemical in-stream standards. Work continues on many of the Little Miami tributaries. On the Beaver Creek, the work of the Beaver Creek Wetlands Association and public officials and staff has shown how critical wetlands are to filtering runoff and restoring a healthy system.
LMI has acquired, through gift and purchase, some 100 nature pre-serves along the main stem. Restora-tion work on these preserves have included the creation of wetlands, oak forests, and prairies, much like the stunning natural landscape that greeted early pioneers. Other partners in land restoration like The Upper River Fund, Tecumseh Land Trust, ODNR, OEPA, NRCS, local officials and staff, and landowners have all played a key role in making this exceptional watershed one we can all be proud of.
Restoration on tributaries, sustain-ing the progress on the main stem, fighting invasives, private and public funding for conservation, education and outreach—all of this and more serves to challenge the future of this still-young 45-year old effort.
Many years ago the Little Miami was called our “lucky little river” hav-ing, despite its degradation, escaped some the more terrible impacts that had been visited upon other rivers in Ohio and across the country. The Lit-tle Miami and its watershed remains so very fortunate to have a group of dedicated conservation leaders who continue to work hard, day in and day out, to assure that conservation is the constant agenda for this river and watershed that we all love so much.
— Eric B. Partee, LMI Executive Director
1820 to change the people’s percep-tion of the waters of Ohio. As with all European-American expansion, the needs of the settlers were soon met by tradesmen and merchants. Lumber, paper, flour, rope, gunpowder and other commodities all needed power to be produced. That power was provided by the water in the creeks and rivers. By 1820, there were more than 1200 mills operating within the state of Ohio. Each of these mills required a dam to raise and reroute the water to run the mills.
By damming the streams and altering the natural flow of the water, the degradation of the streams started. It wasn’t just the dams, but of the 1200 plus mills, over 300 of them were lumber mills. Clear cutting of the forests for lumber allowed erosion to occur and a lot of that soil ended up in the streams. The waste from the mills that turned the trees into lumber also entered the streams along with the waste from all the other mills, such as flour and grist mills, paper mills and gunpowder mills. Creeks and rivers were seen as convenient dumping areas, and as long as the unlimited water kept flowing, the wastes would be washed away.
Hydromodification was the next assault on our streams. Hydromodifi-cation simply means changing the way the water flows through the landscape. According to the Ohio EPA, “hydro-modification – such as ditch or chan-nelization projects that alter the stream channels, destroy wildlife habitat and denude protective streamside vegeta-tion – is the leading cause of water pollution in Ohio” (Source: The Ohio Environmental Council).
Laws were passed in the early to mid-1850’s at both the state and federal levels. What most of these laws had in common was that all of authorized changes were referred to as “improvements.” The earliest of the laws were the ones that authorized county engineers to dig ditches along roads to keep the roads from flooding and to keep them passable in inclem-
Ohio’s Streams
Story and photos by Richard Swigart
One of the most common comments found in the journals of early explor-ers, surveyors and settlers in what is now Ohio was about the clarity and purity of the water found in the ter-ritory. Many of these travelers wrote that finding drinking water was never a problem, simply dip your cup in any stream and you could quench your thirst. Coming from the East, these folks were amazed at the creeks and rivers and how different they were from what they were used to. Some wrote about the numerous fish species found in the streams and how abun-dant the fish were as a food source.
Today, there are probably very few people who would be willing to dip their cups in any of our streams to get a drink of water. This observation was noted as early as 1820 by several early settlers. A lot happened prior to
At left, channelized (“improved”) Beaver Creek
See this newsletter in full color online at www.beavercreekwetlands.org 9
ent weather. These laws also allowed the county engineers to enter private property to open ditches to achieve these goals.
One of consequences of doing this work was that adjoining land appeared to be benefiting from these ditches. Subsequent laws were passed allow-ing counties to accept petitions from landowners for help in draining these private lands with ditches and tile, to be paid for by assessing the costs to all affected landowners.
In 1850, the federal government passed an act that authorized the sell-ing of federal “muck lands” at reduced prices with the stipulation that the owner would drain the lands within a “reasonable amount of time” or the land would be subject to forfeiture. The states, including Ohio, passed laws and resolutions to help meet the specifications set up in the federal act.
These Ohio laws were en-acted mainly to open the Great Black Swamp in northwestern Ohio and the wet prairies of the central and western Lake Erie basin for agriculture. The results of these acts actually opened waterways throughout Ohio to im-provement without any regard to the effects on the overall environment. Streams were channelized—they were straightened, made deeper and even moved out of their flood plains—all in the name of improvement. Channeliza-tion and dredging resulted in losing riffles and pools in the stream, which in turn led to losing clams and mus-sels, invertebrates and desirable fishes. This loss of stream habitat along with streamside habitat was devastating to wildlife.
Even though they conflict with parts of the Clean Water Act of 1977, these laws are still on the books. Al-though they have been modified over the years, most notably in 1913 after the great flood and again in 1950, they are again being looked at to improve waterways to help alleviate flooding in northwest Ohio. These same laws also still allow private landowners to make changes to waterways on their land with no review or impact statement required. If the county is petitioned to help, all landowners that are benefited
by the improvement can be assessed for part of the cost.
Many of the improvements made over the years to prevent flooding and improve drainage have in reality worsened flooding in other places downstream from the improvements. Channelization and levees are the main culprits in downstream flood-ing, moving large amounts of water rapidly.
My father, who grew up at the corner of Kemp and Beaver Valley Roads, remembered swimming and fishing in the Beaver Creek and how clear and cool the water was. After the “improvement” to the creek was finished—that is, the straightening, channeling, deepening, widening and levee building—the water rapidly became more and more muddy and the fish seemed to disappear.
In some communities in Ohio, stream restoration projects have been completed or are under construction. At several places in the Beaver Creek watershed, examples of restoration can be observed.
To see what the Beaver Creek may have looked like during my dad’s early years, the Beaver Creek Wetlands Reserve, owned by Greene County Parks and Trails, has a section of the creek that has been diverted
from its one hundred year old, straight line channel into a meandering stream with riffles. The difference in the clar-ity of the water from where it enters the meander to where it re-enters the old channel can be amazing. A hike along the one-way trail on the east side of the creek or on the loop trail to the west, with a side trip to the top of the observation tower, will give a sense of what can be accomplished.
The trials of the Little Beaver Creek were different from those of the Beaver Creek. Starting with a dam in the early 1800’s to moving the creek for the convenience of the first rail-road in the mid-1800’s to completely rerouting the creek to put in U. S. Route 35 in the 1960’s, the creek was no longer within a flood plain. During high water episodes, the water had no place to go so the channel was cut deeper and the banks were eroding away, toppling trees and undermin-ing utility poles. In 2008, using grant funding, Greene County Parks and Trails began a restoration of the Little Beaver Creek where it flows though Creekside Reserve. Walking the trails at this reserve, admiring the meanders and watching the sunlight sparkling off the riffles and the clear water, will give one a feeling of what the first visitors to Ohio might have experienced.
Meandering Little Beaver Creek at Creekside Reserve after restoration
10 Spotted Turtle—Fall 2012
For the last several summers, Beaver Creek Wetlands volunteers have been addressing the challenge of control-ling an alien invader, non-native sweet flag. This invasive wetland plant, which was brought to North America by European settlers for medicinal and culinary use, is threatening wetlands in our area. Both the native and the non-native sweet flag were men-tioned in a North American botanical publication as early as 1672. A long-standing practice of some botanists and natural areas managers to refer to both of these species found in North America as Acorus calamus provided the potential for confusing the two species. Fortunately, recent publication of a new volume of the Flora of North America gave us an authoritative description of the significant differ-ences between the two species. The native species, A. americanus has two sets of chromosomes and is a fertile member of US wetland communities. The species is clearly distinguished by a lack of prominent leaf veins and by its ability to produce seeds. The non-
native A. calamus is distinguished by a prominent leaf mid vein and by its being a sterile hybrid with three sets of chromosomes. Though non-native sweet flag cannot produce seeds, it readily propagates by rhizomes, under-ground stems that produce new shoots.
Because sweet flag commonly is used in restoration plantings, the his-toric confusion over species identity can cause accidental planting of the invasive species. In this regard, a nurs-ery catalog widely used for supplying plants for restoration advertises A. calamus sweet flag plants. While these plants, which are advertised as grown from the seed, are A. americanus not A. calamus, the incorrect labeling causes confusion and can lead to use of invasive A. calamus for restora-tion plantings. A recent journal article actually promotes use of A. calamus for wetland restoration. Given the difficulty of controlling this species, it is important to avoid introducing it to native habitats.
Populations of A. calamus gener-ally are found in wet areas throughout Ohio in farm fields and near human habitation, but have invaded some natural areas (Rick Gardner, Botanist, ODNR, personal communication). Invasion of wet habitats by A. calamus is fairly common in our area, likely the result of the former Watervliet Shaker Community which promoted the distribution and use of medicinal plants. Under favorable conditions non-native sweet flag spreads by
branching, underground stems and forms dense single-species mats. At the periphery of these massive mats numerous young underground shoots advance into the surrounding native vegetation and continue to displace native species. By contrast, the native sweet flag produces patches scat-tered among other plants in a diverse wetland community.
Alerted by the new, clear species recognition, natural area managers are beginning to control these invasive populations. We worked to control a 10,000 square foot mat of A. calamus at Hershner Reserve, experiment-ing with various control strategies. Glyphosate-based herbicides approved for wetland use proved to be ineffec-tive. The cover of A. calamus was re-duced, but plants vigorously re-sprout-ed from dormant underground shoots. Physical removal of the plants was effective but labor intensive, practical only for small populations. We found solarization by the summer sun to be effective in controlling massive areas of invasive sweet flag. Covering the sweet flag mats with clear plastic film or swimming pool covers weighted down around the periphery with wood chip mulch trapped the intense solar
Conquering an Alien InvaderStory and photos by Don Geiger
Massive invasion of A. calamus to the right of a population of cattails in a Greene County fen.
A. americanus showing its growth habit of scattered clusters.
Solarization of a 10,000 square foot area of A. calamus in Hershner Reserve of Greene County Parks. The area in foreground has been prepared for planting with native seeds.
See this newsletter in full color online at www.beavercreekwetlands.org 11
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heat. This treatment killed shoots and rhizomes across large areas by the end of the summer. To contain the advance of the mat’s leading edge with minimal damage to the adjacent quality wet-land, we clipped the emerging shoots and applied undiluted petroleum-based 2,4D brush killer to the stumps. We carefully dug out the rhizome tips that survived this treatment. The wood chip mulch provided an excellent surface for sowing seed collected from the adjacent fen habitat.
The work of the volunteers in controlling the large area of invasive sweet flag at Hershner Reserve of Greene County Parks & Trails was a very valuable contribution. Their ef-forts over several seasons established methods for restoring areas of fen that had been completely overgrown by the invasive alien. The results of these ef-forts were presented at several profes-sional meetings and were disseminated in two professional publications. The invasion of non-native sweet flag into the adjacent pristine fen was stopped and the cleared area was restored by planting seed collected from the adja-cent habitat. Thanks to their efforts the area formerly covered by the invader is well on its way to full recovery.
Portion of the pristine fen at the west edge of the area cleared of A. calamus.
Label (1” x 2-5/8” ) here.Place carefully to
cover bottom line completelybut do not touch top line.
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