Marsh Creek Restoration Project

During 2005, the Essex County Stewardship Network began a large scale restoration project on 36 acres of agriculture lands in the Big Creek area of Essex County. The goal of the project is to restore a Carolinian habitat complex modeled after original Big Creek and other Essex County plant communities, including marsh wetlands, vernal pools & hardwood swamp, tallgrass prairie, pit and mound forests. In creating these habitats, the landowners will be able to return their properties to a natural state, increase habitat diversity and provide recreation opportunities such as waterfowl hunting, while promoting recovery of local Species at Risk.

The project design and construction will take approximately 3 years from start to finish, and begin to mature long after the ground work is complete. Moving into the second season of work, there is already species using the habitats created. The photo below shows the concept of the project. Yellow areas are to be planted with a Tallgrass Prairie mix; the brownish areas are to be planted with a Woodland ground cover mix. The two blue areas are Wetlands and Vernal Pools. The pit and mounds will be created in the woodland mix areas.

Project Objectives:

1. To reach the maximum potential for biodiversity on 36+ acres, by creating a complex of several habitats adjacent to one another. Many species of wildlife use several habitats for nesting, feeding, etc. A Green Heron, for example, nests in the forest, feeds on fish in the wetland, and feeds on leopard frogs in the Tallgrass prairie.
2. To provide a stopover for migrating waterfowl.
3. To provide breeding habitat for wetland wildlife including waterfowl, amphibians, and especially the endangered Prothonotary Warbler.
4. To restore local hydrology by providing a local water sink, and slow the release of snow melt water and rainstorm water into local water ways.
5. To conserve globally threatened tallgrass prairie habitat native to Essex County, and attract associated wildlife.
6. To restore Carolinian Forest habitats of the clay plains characteristic of Essex County.
7. To provide future timber resources, carbon sequestration, improvement of local air quality, soil building, shelter from wind, landscape beauty and other social and economic benefits of natural habitats in the Carolinian Forest region.
8. To provide recreational benefits to the land owners including trail hiking, nature observation, hunting and fishing opportunities.

Project Partners:

A project of this size requires many different partners with a range of skills and offerings. Without the cooperation of the different partners, these types of projects would not be possible.

Orford Ridges Native Plants, Habitat Stewardship Fund, Canadian Wildlife Service, Essex Region Conservation Authority, Canada Ontario Agreement, Community Fish & Wildlife Improvement Program, Wetland Habitat Fund, Ministry of Natural Resources, Essex County Field Naturalists, Holiday Beach Migration Observatory, Essex County Stewardship Network

Click Here to visit the Land Stewardship Demonstration Areas Catalogue.

It is a list of other Stewardship Projects across Ontario.