oak openings

September 30, 2025

MAD Wins Oak Openings Corridor Project with Metroparks Toledo!

The Oak Openings Region is one of the most biologically diverse and ecologically unique areas in the Great Lakes region. Its plant life reflects a rare intersection of eastern deciduous forests, western prairies, and northern boreal habitats, all shaped by glacial history and sandy, well-drained soils. We’re so excited to contribute to conservation efforts in this globally unique habitat! Approximately 50 acres of fallow field (previously farmed) will be restored to emergent marsh and shrub-carr wet meadow wetlands, and sand prairie habitats. This will be our fifth project in the Oak Openings, totalling nearly 400 acres of restored habitat! We hope you’ll follow along with the restoration progress!
January 11, 2022

Sandhill Crane Wetlands Project- Our Largest Construction Project to Date

Our largest wetland restoration to date is the Sandhill Crane Wetlands in the Oak Openings Region near Toledo, Ohio. Construction on this project was substantially complete by the end of 2021. We worked with The Nature Conservancy (TNC) and B Hill’z Excavating to achieve this restoration on 280 acres of former farmland. For decades, this massive field has been used for conventional row crop agriculture. To be successful, these farming operations along the northern edge of the former Great Black Swamp required intensive water management. The land is flanked by deep ditches on three sides that help to lower the water table and improve drainage, and in the winter and spring, the former farmer would run multiple pumps to pull water from the field’s drainage […]