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March 21, 2024

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Spring Housing Guide

Black Swamp Preserve unveiling on Earth Day

Residents of Bowling Green, Mayor Richard Edwards and elementary school students came to the unveiling of the Black Swamp Preserve on Wednesday morning.

The Black Swamp, a wetland in Ohio, is the remains of a Wisconsin glacier that covered the state 20,000 years ago according to HistoricPerrysburg.org.

It was once composed of various marshes, dry ground and dense forests.

The Black Swamp had its environmental benefits, but the mosquito-infested wetland began to spread disease among early settlers, which led farmers to begin draining it in the 1800s.

Years of draining the swamp left behind appealing fertile farmland.

The fast-tracking development of rural Ohio is what inclined the Black Swamp Preserve to go into effect.

The preserve, implemented after ten years of planning, is the result of an Ohio recreational trails grant and Clean Ohio Fund. It covers 65.7 acres of land.

The Black Swamp Preserve plan states that the preserve exists to protect what is left of The Black Swamp and rehabilitate the natural environment within the city.

The preserve is expected to benefit the city and residents in various ways.

Bob Callecod, interim director of the Bowling Green Parks and Recreation Department, said the Black Swamp Preserve reduced the city’s operating costs by fixing water run-off issues.

“The whole reason this project got started was because this part of town doesn’t drain well,” he said. “The Wood County Park District and the city started working together in terms of reducing costs of building water retention systems. This is just a natural way to keep the water in the area and enhance vegetation naturally.”

Callecod said the preserve has saved the city from paying for the manufacturing of retention ponds.

Ann Beck, president of Bowling Green Parks and Recreation, said the preserve will help residents connect to the Slippery Elm trail and get away from the city.

Beck said resource preservation is incredibly important in Ohio.

“Ohio has a long history of being raped and pillaged. This is another small portion and piece of helping the whole state take back some land and turn it back to the way it was,” she said.

Mayor Edwards said the preserve has brought park programs together, and reflects Bowling Green’s overall commitment to nature.

“The neat thing about this is the Bowling Green Parks and Recreation program is working with the Wood County Park District, so these two entities have come together and that’s what we’re celebrating,” he said.

Edwards said the city has a long-standing commitment to preserving green space and giving residents and visitors the ability to enjoy nature.

He also stated that this year marks 35 years in a row that Bowling Green has been named Ohio’s Tree City USA.

“There are not many Ohio cities that can match that record. We’re very proud of that,” he said.

Edwards and students from Kenwood and Montessori Elementary School, with scissors in hand, cut the ribbon to mark the implementation of the Black Swamp preserve.

“What better day to do this than Earth Day?” Edwards said.

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