Paint Creek Scenic River Designation Study
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Paint Creek State Scenic River Designation Study June 2021 Paint Creek State Scenic River Designation Study A Study of Paint Creek and its Tributaries for Inclusion in Ohio’s Scenic Rivers System Prepared By John Ritter Professor of Geology and Environmental Science Wittenberg University June 2021 Table of Contents List of Figures ...................................................................................................................................................................... ii List of Tables ........................................................................................................................................................................ v Executive Summary ......................................................................................................................................................... 1 Introduction ....................................................................................................................................................................... 2 Description of the Paint Creek Watershed ............................................................................................................... 5 General Overview ........................................................................................................................................................ 5 Cultural History of the Paint Creek Watershed ................................................................................................... 11 Land Use ..................................................................................................................................................................... 16 Recreational Opportunities ...................................................................................................................................... 19 Abiotic and Biotic Features ...................................................................................................................................... 22 Bedrock Geology ................................................................................................................................................ 22 Glacial Geology .................................................................................................................................................. 29 Water Resources ................................................................................................................................................. 33 Biological Diversity ............................................................................................................................................ 37 Plants ............................................................................................................................................................. 38 Animals Invertebrates ...................................................................................................................................... 47 Animals Vertebrates ....................................................................................................................................... 51 Paint Creek Report ......................................................................................................................................................... 62 Paint Creek .................................................................................................................................................................. 62 North Fork Paint Creek ............................................................................................................................................ 65 Rocky Fork Creek ...................................................................................................................................................... 66 Rattlesnake Creek ....................................................................................................................................................... 68 Paint Creek Corridor Analysis .................................................................................................................................... 77 Methodology ............................................................................................................................................................... 78 Free-flowing ........................................................................................................................................................ 79 Roads .................................................................................................................................................................... 84 Length .................................................................................................................................................................. 84 Impervious Surface Area ................................................................................................................................... 84 Forest or Wetland .............................................................................................................................................. 84 Water Quality ...................................................................................................................................................... 85 Final Assessment ................................................................................................................................................ 94 Findings and Recommendation ............................................................................................................................... 99 Acknowledgments ....................................................................................................................................................... 101 References ....................................................................................................................................................................... 103 i Appendix ......................................................................................................................................................................... 106 List of Figures Figure 1. Location map of the Paint Creek watershed and the reaches examined for scenic river designation: 1 - Paint Creek, 2 - Upper Paint Creek, 3 - Rattlesnake Creek, 4 - Rocky Fork Creek, and 5 - North Fork Paint Creek. ............................................................................................................. 4 Figure 2. Location map of Paint Creek and its watershed relative to major highways, state parks, and urban areas. ............................................................................................................................................................. 7 Figure 3. Subwatersheds of the Paint Creek (HUC 05060003) watershed at the 10-digit HUC level. HUC numbers and subwatershed characteristics are included in Table 2..................................................... 8 Figure 4. Shaded relief map of the Paint Creek watershed illustrating variation in elevation and relief. The northern half of the watershed is characterized by generally smooth-rolling plains of low relief; the southern half of the watershed is increasingly rugged, with higher relief hills. ............... 10 Figure 5. Ancient earthworks in the Scioto River, Paint Creek, and North Fork Paint Creek valleys located in Ross County. Sites shown with a circular boundary are on multiple properties that are privately held. The irregular boundaries represent the shape of parcels on which earthworks were located, preserved, or restored and are protected by either the National Park Service or Arc of Appalachia Preserve System. ..................................................................................... 11 Figure 6. Archeological investigation of Pricer Mound, the principal mound of the Seip Earthworks in 1925. .................................................................................................................................................................... 13 Figure 7. Pricer Mound, the principal mound of the Seip Earthworks, in 2018. View is to the southwest, towards Paint Creek at RM 28.2. ................................................................................................... 13 Figure 8. Map of Ohio in 1805, shortly after statehood was granted in 1803, showing state and county boundaries at the time, location of areas formerly occupied by historic Native American tribes, and principal rivers (modified from Henry Howe’s “Historical Collections of Ohio,” 1907). The Paint Creek watershed is located in the Virginia Military District (in yellow), bounded by the Little Miami River on the west and the Scioto River to the east. ...................... 15 Figure 9. McCoppin Mill, which included both a sawmill and gristmill, on Rocky Fork Creek, just downstream of Rocky Fork Dam and Lake. .................................................................................................... 16 Figure 10. Land cover in the Paint Creek watershed based on data from the National Land Cover Database for 2011. ............................................................................................................................................... 18 Figure 11. Recreation on Paint Creek in the past near Copperas Mountain (a) and recently in The Narrows (b). ..........................................................................................................................................................