Edison Woods Natural Resource Management Plan

Edison Woods Natural Resource Management Plan Tara Kauffman, Natural Resources Manager Brad Phillips, Environmental Projects Coordinator (April 2012-Updated February 2019) Erie MetroParks mission is to conserve natural resources while connecting the community with nature through education and exploration. The 1,340 acre site known as Edison Woods MetroPark is owned and operated by Erie MetroParks, and is located in Berlin Township, Erie County, Ohio. The property is between State Route 61 (Ceylon Road), Mason Road, Frailey Road, and Driver Road. Smokey Road runs through the northeastern portion of the site. A railroad and power line corridor defines the northern boundary of the site (see attachment property map). Edison Woods is a combination of sandstone cliffs, wetlands, woodlands, and meadows with a variety of seasonal wildflowers, rare plants, amphibians and reptiles. There are approximately 550 acres of wetland habitat and 300 acres of restored native grasslands. You can find 10 plus miles of trails that take you throughout the wooded and prairie habitats, including an Adventure Walkway and Geocaching. Features and Resources Various parcels throughout the area that is now Edison Woods were purchased by Ohio Edison in the late 1970’s for the purpose of constructing a nuclear power plant. In 1991, Ohio Edison leased the property to Erie MetroParks for passive recreational use. Edison Woods was purchased from The Ohio Edison Power Company in 2001 with Water Resource Restoration Sponsor Program (WRRSP) funds. This program was created by the Ohio EPA to counter the loss of ecological function and biological diversity that jeopardizes the health of Ohio’s water resources. This program funds both preservation and restoration of aquatic and wetland habitat to accomplish this goal (see WRRSP Guidelines attachment). Edison Woods has become one of northern Ohio’s largest native grassland restoration projects and the sheer size and diversity of the property make it both locally and regionally significant habitat. The large contiguous woodland is mostly made up of lowland lake plain swamp forest, featuring pin and swamp white oaks, with green ash (impacted by Emerald Ash Borer) and red maple dominating other areas. Additional forest is found on steep north facing slopes, including white and red oaks, beech and sugar maple, and numerous other species. Edison Woods is also interesting geologically, as it contains a transition from sandstone to shale bedrock. The north facing slope contains a sandstone escarpment of the Devonian Era, the west most outcropping at this latitude. This rock face was quarried for high quality dimensional stone 100 and more years ago, and the old quarry site has become a refuge for numerous ferns and rare plants. The old track lines which served the quarry are now part of the trail system. Underlying the sandstone is shale, which is only exposed in stream cuts. It is mostly covered by poorly drained lake bottom deposits, which were lain down at the end of the latest glacial period. Several post glacial lakes covered all or a portion of this site, leaving sand and gravel deposits on the upper Edison Woods Natural Resource Management Plan Tara Kauffman, Natural Resources Manager Brad Phillips, Environmental Projects Coordinator (April 2012-Updated February 2019) (southern) part of the site. The poorly drained northern portion contains nearly all the wetlands, which are predominantly forested wetlands. Nearly every acre of Edison Woods has been disturbed over the years, either by quarrying, farming, pasturing, drainage, and/or logging. This influences the plants that grow here, the water table, the soil structure, and the topography. Over the years many agricultural fields have been abandoned, and have undergone succession back to forest, or are in the process of succession. A many aged patchwork of forest types is the result. In 2002, the 300 plus acres of most recently farmed fields at Edison Woods were planted to a native grass, forb and sedge dominated complex. Sixty species were utilized in these plantings, distributed according to moisture regimes. In 2007, three small vernal pools were created with explosives. These pools are located within the wetland mitigation restoration area. The water table in this area is continuing to rise following tile breaking and ditch blocking (see attachment wood duck boxes & vernal pool locations). A wetland mitigation project created two fully diked pools in the fall of 2008. Material for dikes was obtained onsite from shaly subsoil/shallow bedrock, creating a variety of depths within the pools. Water control structures are installed in three places to manage water levels as needed. The deeper areas are planned to be semi-permanent pools, while the shallower areas will function as vernal wetlands. Dike crests have been integrated into the trail system, greatly improving access and reducing impacts to wetland areas. Wetland areas were seeded to native hydrophytes, and dikes proper were seeded to rye and fescue for soil stabilization. A fourth water control structure was installed at the same time at the outlet of a natural vernal pool which is northwest of the main pool areas. This enhanced the hydro-period in this area and ensured the pool would persist into the future. Edison Woods is the only MetroPark that allows horses on the trails. The office and barn can be found off Smokey Road on the north hand side. Approximately 693 species of vascular plants and 36 species of non-vascular plants have been reported for the entire site (see attachment plant list through 2016 and mosses and liverworts thru 2011). Several of these are uncommon to rare, with three native orchid species found, and an abundance of ferns. Edison Woods Natural Resource Management Plan Tara Kauffman, Natural Resources Manager Brad Phillips, Environmental Projects Coordinator (April 2012-Updated February 2019) This list includes the restoration planting species in the meadows, many of which were not found on site previously. The animal life at Edison Woods is also diverse, although it has not yet been studied systematically. Edison Woods contains excellent habitat for woodland birds, both in migration and for nesting. One hundred seventy four species of birds have been recorded so far (see attachment birds thru 2016). Fifty vertebrate species have been recorded (see attachment vertebrates thru 2011). The vertebrate list includes species found during the 1970’s site investigation for the Erie Nuclear Plant. The Bow n’ Barrel Archers lease a parcel of land located at 10314 State Route 61, Berlin Heights, Ohio and another small parcel of land located north and east of the Deehr Road intersection with St. Rt 61, containing .26 acres within Edison Woods. This area has been designated as an archery range and associated purposes. The house that the Bow n’ Barrel utilized off State Route 61 was removed in 2019. The Ohio Edison Company holds several ‘retained rights’ areas on the property. To find out more information on these corridor areas refer to the deed exhibit attachments located in the Edison Woods property files at the Frost Center. The house at 7805 Mason Road, Berlin Heights, Ohio 44814 was burned down in 2018. This space is now an additional parking area for horse trailers and visitors. Management Strategies The short-term goal for the planted meadows is to manage for maintenance of prairie/savannah habitat. Controlled burns should be conducted in the meadows on a one to two year cycle to prevent woody growth from overtaking the area, and to encourage fire adapted prairie plants to thrive (see attachment burn area maps). Perimeter fire lanes must be maintained by mowing to insure a safe burn. Fields along State Route 61, and Smokey Road should only be burned with a west or southwest wind, to prevent smoke from interfering with auto traffic. Similarly, the field along Driver Road is best burned with a north or northwest wind and the Mason Road field is best with a southeast to south west direction. In years when burning is not successful, other strategies such as mowing at the end of June and/or chemical control of woody vegetation may need to be implemented. The long-term plan for many of the meadows is to let them revert to lowland forest, in accordance with the overarching goal of Ohio EPA to restore the site’s original and now uncommon habitat. To accomplish this goal, fire lanes are gradually moved in from the edge so areas adjacent to wooded habitats are left unburned. Additionally, one field has already been taken off the burn schedule so it can reforest. Edison Woods Natural Resource Management Plan Tara Kauffman, Natural Resources Manager Brad Phillips, Environmental Projects Coordinator (April 2012-Updated February 2019) However, tree recruitment has been slowed by excessive browsing by deer on seedlings. This has led to the decision to conduct annual deer population management hunts, with the first held in the fall of 2012. Edison Woods contains a population of White-tailed deer which have become excessive for the habitat. Reports of large herds have been noted and evidence of excessive browsing on Oaks and various other seedlings attempting to colonize on the field edges have been documented. Erie MetroParks has also documented loss of Great White Trillium flowering stems in an established population compared to years prior. Erie MetroParks staff started conducting deer counts and controlled deer hunts in 2012 and have continued an annual basis. Invasive species such as Autumn Olive (Eleagnus umbellata), Common Reed Grass (Phragmites australis), Reed Canary Grass (Phalaris arundinacea), and Lesser Celandine (Ranunculus ficaria) pose a management concern at Edison Woods. Narrow-leaf Cattail was successfully treated in the south-most mitigation pools in 2012. Water levels in the mitigation pools vary on a seasonal pattern, with some areas completely drying down during summer, and other areas (the north pool especially) holding water year-round.

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