Metroparks Meetup: Restoring the wetlands at Oak Oapenings

TOLEDO, Ohio (WTVG) - Glass City Metroparks and the Nature Conservancy in Ohio have teamed up once again to work on restoring the wetlands at Oak Openings.

Time Schetter, Chief Natural Resource Officer with Metroparks Toledo, says this restorative and not destructive.

“Wetlands are incredibly valuable for wildlife habitat, but also extremely important for water quality. There’s a lot of benefits people gain from wetlands,” said Schetter. In Ohio, we have lost well over 90% of our historic wetlands. Again, think of our landscape. We live in one of the most productive cultural regions in the country, and that’s because those areas were wetlands before they were cleared for farming.”

The process includes clearing the Evergreen trees, which are nearing the end of their lives.

“Wetlands are referred to as the kidneys of the planet,” said Schetter. “They filter out nutrients, they filter out sediment and they hold and absorb it through the plants that live in the wetlands before that is all discharged into streams and rivers before ending up in our lake.”

Removal of the trees will be starting next week and the entire project will be complete by the end of the year.

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