Beaver Wetlands
an 85 acre preserve in Gallia County
Project Cost: $332,884
Current balance yet to raise: $99,554
Stewardship Funds are critically needed
This is the Arc of Appalachia’s first preserve in Gallia County!!!
Beaver Wetlands sits in the low-relief valley drained by Dirtyface Creek, part of Simms Creek Watershed. The low gradient of the landscape drains surface water very slowly, and, as a result, each spring flooding occurs on both sides of the road that dissects Beaver Wetlands, creating saturated soils that support persistant wetland vegetation. Beaver populations are high in this corner of Gallia County, and beaver are frequently residents on the property.
Music to one’s ears. Approximately 13.3 acres of the property is a perennial wetlands, with buttonbush, swamp rose, black willow, cattails, sweet flag, and woolgrass. Each spring, the shallow, ephemeral waters are covered with masses of American toad eggs. In May, the trill of toads, the booming of bullfrogs, the banjo twangs green frogs, and the calls of spring peepers are pleasantly deafening to the ears.
The project has been partially funded in part by a grant from Clean Ohio, which includes financial support for a small parking and loop trail . The Clean Ohio grant requires a 25% match, which still needs to be raised, along with our perennial need for substantial stewardship funds. Because Gallia County is a new expansion for the Arc, we, as of yet, have no stewardship hub for the area. We envision growing more preserves in the Lawrence, Gallia, Jackson County region that, if funds are forthcoming, can support both staff and equipment. For more information, scroll down below the photo gallery.
Beaver Wetlands is a refuge for wildlife, supported at times by shifting populations of beavers. All wetlands, including Beaver Wetlands, support extraordinary numbers of birds, reptiles, amphibians and mammals - making this habitat a primeval cornucopia for wildlife. In pre-European settlement eras, Ohio’s wetlands teemed with such an abundance of wildlife that indigenous cultures thrived in the region for well over 16,000 years. The wetland swamps and riparian corridors guaranteed their successful hunting and provided a high-protein diet for Native American Indians. This wildlife is pivotal in supporting the 2000-year-old Hopewell Culture in Ohio - a culture that is now famous worldwide for their masterful artistry in stone and shell, and their engineering skills which allowed them to build immense, geometric complex earthworks.
Beaver Wetlands is a National Audubon Society Important Bird Area, designated in part because of the high density of undrained wetlands in the region that support a diversity of bird life such as rails, ducks, kingfishers, herons, and egrets. Other species of animals abound as well, such as otter, muskrat, mink, bobcat, and the endangered northern long-eared bat.
Twenty percent of Ohio’s primeval vegetation was high-quality wetlands. Today, Ohio’s wetlands have been so thoroughly drained, fragmented, and damaged that most modern citizens have no comprehension that they ever existed. Ohio ties as second in the nation for having the highest percentage of cropland acres drained by underground tiles. The 7 most highly drained states in the Union are: Iowa (53%), Ohio (49%), Indiana (49%), Illinois (39%), Michigan (38%), Minnesota (37%), and New York (20%). See the map in gallery above for further illustration.
Beaver Wetlands also protects a healthy mixed hardwood/Virginia Pine hillside forest. Beaver Wetlands borders the Wayne National Forest- Ironton Unit on three of its sides. The National Forest on the east side of Beaver Wetlands is a high-quality woodlands with mature oaks and hickories,.
Beaver Wetlands’ Cultural History. The southeastern third of the property is intersected by a public road called C, H. & D Road, named for the historic Cincinnati, Dayton, and Hamilton Railroad that in the 1880s transported iron from nearby Gallia Furnace to the Ohio River. Gallia Furnace was built in 1847 by John Campbell, an abolitionist who constructed many iron furnaces throughout the Hanging Rock region of Ohio. In 1880, Gallia Furnace supported a population of 136 people. Each furnace required 11,500 cords of wood per year, which meant an average of 200-600 nearby acres of timber were cut annually to keep the furnace fires burning. The woodlands at Beaver Wetlands were cut many times over to fuel this industry.
Visitor Services Planned for Beaver Wetlands. The Arc intends to install a 1.3-mile-long hiking trail at Beaver Wetlands that will feature a boardwalk into the wetland for nature viewing, funded in part by Clean Ohio. The Arc also intends to install a trailhead parking lot and public hiking trail to permit public access to the site. An informational kiosk will be erected to interpret the site’s fascinating natural and cultural history.