Mentor Marsh by Rebecca Donaldson

Mentor Marsh is one of the largest natural marshes remaining along the Lake Erie shoreline. It was among the first four of Ohio’s first State Nature Preserves designated in 1971. This state-wide and regionally important wetland is about 5 miles long and about a half mile wide. It contains many unique habitats and is high in food production for its many inhabitants. The more than 800 acres of marsh are an important breeding and nursery area for native fish that live in Lake Erie and an important stopping ground for waterfowl in spring and fall migrations. The remaining swamp forest, upland forested areas surrounding the Marsh and the nearby Headlands Dunes State Nature Preserve make the greater

Marsh ecosystem among the best places in the state to witness spring migrations of songbirds. The marsh and the forest surrounding it are home to numerous amphibians and other animals and it also contains many significant and rare wetland and forest plants.

Historically, the Grand River flowed westward through the Marsh, but as recently as a couple thousand years ago, the river carved a new outlet to Lake Erie at its present location to the east. The Marsh now occupies this abandoned river channel. Water still enters the Marsh from Blackbrook, Heisley and Marsh Creeks, travels westward and outlets to Lake Erie at Mentor Lagoons.

Vegetation at Mentor Marsh has changed over the time of recorded human history. An early U. S. Army Corps of Engineers report from the 1850s stated that the Marsh was an open wetland characterized by floating and emergent plants. Gradually the Marsh matured into a forested wetland, or swamp. Infiltration of salt, beginning in 1959 from local brine well ruptures and then further in 1966 from 255,000 tons of sub-grade salt material that was dumped/filled Blackbrook Creek just before it enters the Marsh on an adjacent property, changed the Marsh drastically. The increased salinity killed many trees and other flora of the swamp. Salt-tolerant Phragmites australis, an invasive reed grass of Europe and Asia, subsequently invaded the Marsh and crowded out remaining native species. Phragmites remains the dominant plant in the Marsh today and Mentor Marsh is Ohio’s largest Phragmites marsh.

In addition to displacing native plants, reducing habitat for wildlife and forming a monoculture which reduces biological diversity, the swath of Phragmites at Mentor Marsh is also a huge fire danger. Thick stands of Phragmites provide a huge potential for wildfire after the tall grass dies back each fall. Mentor Marsh has burned nine times since its first fire in 1979 with the most recent occurring in April 2003. All of the fires have been human caused.

Brief History of Mentor Marsh State Nature Preserve

In early 1960, a regional park plan to dredge the marsh for recreational amenities thus impacting its many natural resources came to the attention of the Burroughs Nature Club. Burroughs took the threat of the Marsh’s development to their membership and other interested individuals. Several groups, including the Cleveland Museum of Natural History (CMNH), became involved in an effort to protect the Marsh.

In 1961, The Nature Conservancy (TNC) agreed to become involved in the project. Through CMNH efforts, many Lake County citizens and TNC, monies were raised to fund the purchase of an 80-acre tract. Local companies also donated over 400 acres at that time.

In 1964, the Museum Board of Trustees agreed to accept custodianship of Mentor Marsh, contingent on terms that would limit the monetary obligations of the Museum. The Museum acquired additional acres of Mentor Marsh property in 1965 and

approved setting up a Mentor Marsh Committee consisting of board members and members of the original Mentor Marsh protection group. Additional gifts and purchases since 1965 have brought the amount of land managed by the Museum, as the Mentor Marsh State Nature Preserve, to 673 acres.

In 1971, Mentor Marsh was dedicated as a State Nature Preserve. Two years later CMNH and the State of Ohio signed an agreement that made Mentor Marsh an Interpretive Nature Preserve. With the mission of “Promoting stewardship of Mentor Marsh for its environmental and aesthetic value and providing educational, scientific and recreational opportunities for visitors to the unique ecosystem and interactive nature preserve”, the Mentor Marsh Board of Management continues to raise stewardship and education funds for Mentor Marsh from annual appeals through a mailing list called “Friends of the Mentor Marsh” and through other fund raisers. Program materials and general nature center operations are also supported by fees from field trips and by other donations.

Much of the Cleveland Museum of Natural History’s support of the Marsh is in the form of stewardship under the auspices of Dr. James Bissell, Director of the Center for Conservation and Biodiversity and Curator of Botany at CMNH. The Marsh is one of 39 preserves CMNH manages with total land area covering over 5,000 acres in Northeast Ohio. Most of these preserves do not allow public access, making the Marsh unique.

The Natural Areas Division of the Cleveland Museum of Natural History, and partners, such as The Nature Conservancy (TNC), Lake County Soil & Water Conservation District (SWCD), and the Natural Resources Conservation Service, are restoring a large section of the swamp forest in the southwest section of the Marsh and other areas in the Marsh and upland forest. Stewardship efforts are focused on combating invasive plants including Phragmites, purple loosestrife, garlic mustard, honeysuckle and barberry. In keeping the Phragmites at bay along the Wake Robin trail, the stewardship efforts have allowed native plants along the trail to re-establish. In turn, rare sparrows like Le Conte’s and Nelson’s Sharp-tailed are using the recovered area to stop and recharge along their fall migration routes and these rare birds bring the birders flocking to Mentor Marsh in the fall. The Natural Areas crew also maintains four deer exclosures at the Marsh: two in the upland forest, one each in the swamp forest and marsh as plant life is also threatened by the burgeoning white-tailed deer population.

An important addition to the Preserve was made in 1969 when the Museum purchased the Kerven home on Corduroy Road to serve as the Mentor Marsh Nature Center. Part of this building is rented and the remainder is home to the Mentor Marsh Nature Center. The Nature Center features historical displays, natural history exhibits and hands-on activities for visitors of all ages. It is open to the public on weekends from April through October and the first Sunday of the month from November through March and is also the starting point for many school groups who embark on exploratory field trips into the Marsh. Landscaping around the Nature Center features native plantings including a rain garden and prairie. The Nature Center also offers free, naturalist-led programs and hikes of differing topics at 2 p.m. every Sunday the Nature Center

is open. Our program schedule is online at www.cmnh.org, search for Mentor Marsh and can also be found on our Mentor Marsh Facebook page.

The Preserve boasts three trails which are open to the public year-round, dawn through dusk. The Wake Robin trail includes a boardwalk which allows visitors to venture in the heart of the Marsh while keeping their feet dry. Views include open water ponds, small creeks that flow westward and myriad wildlife including insects, frogs, and birds. The Zimmerman Trail, part of the Buckeye Trail system, is two miles in length and travels through the upland forest and through several ravines along the northeastern edge of the Marsh. Birding can be spectacular along this trail in the spring. The third one, the Kerven Trail, is ¾ of a mile in length, heads north from the Nature Center and takes visitors through a meadow and woods along the southern edge of the Marsh. An overlook on this trail affords great views across the Marsh and is particularly spectacular in the fall with colorful foliage viewing opportunities along the Marsh rim.

Our work would be so much more daunting without the hundreds of hours of volunteer service at the Mentor Marsh State Nature Preserve. We could always use more help! Some opportunities include educational, stewardship and administrative/marketing help to support the Marsh mission. Contact us if your talents could be put to good use in helping us protect and promote this great wetland.

The challenges of working to protect and rehabilitate the Marsh are never ending, but also exciting. Stewardship must endure as the battle against Phragmites and other invasives is persistent and pervasive. The ongoing effort to educate folks on the value of wetlands as well as connecting them to the outdoors is so much easier when they come on hikes and see the beauty and become enchanted with this wild and largely impenetrable wetland in the midst of suburbia in the center of Lake County. Successes at the Marsh continue. Our bald eagle pair who nest in the eastern edge of the Marsh fledged their first offspring this summer. Hope you come out for yourself and discover the wonders of Mentor Marsh!

Becky Donaldson is the Mentor Marsh Naturalist