December 27, 2022
We have our first in-lieu fee wetland mitigation project under construction in Geauga County! This 30-acre site was previously row-cropped and pastured but is part of a larger (119-acre) property that contains a mosaic of depressional wetlands, ephemeral and perennial streams, and upland forest. Our design for this project will restore/add 8 acres of depressional, forested wetlands, and 18 acres forested buffer. Interesting elements of the design for this site include the repurposing of stones from a demolished barn to create a snake hibernaculum, using deadwood and felled trees for perching and basking habitat, and experimental hummock creation within pools. We have had reports of sandhill cranes (Antigone canadensis), a state threatened species, already utilizing the site presumably as stopover habitat during their fall migration […]