Projects Completed in 2018

TCWP was awarded a $191,500 Great Lakes Restoration grant from the Ohio EPA and US EPA. Funds will be used to restore instream habitat to a historically channelized portion of Tinker’s Creek.

A total of fourteen wetlands and four streams, one being Tinker’s Creek, are found within the study area. The wetlands are moderate to high quality and include areas of emergent, scrub/shrub, and forested plant communities. All of the wetlands fall into the Ohio Rapid Assessment Method (ORAM) Category 2 or 3 ranges and are abutting or adjacent to streams and/or in the floodplain of Tinker’s Creek.

The riparian corridor, in general, is one very positive aspect for the project site as the streambanks are well vegetated creating a desirable shaded condition. While much of the stream is channelized, the mature forested areas surrounding the stream preclude significant channel relocation or levy spoil pile removal, and the project will focus largely on improving habitat within the existing channel and within the wetlands and riparian corridor. The goal is to avoid the “ecological bruising” associated with substantial earthmoving efforts, to stretch the available funding as far as possible for the benefit of the stream and wetlands corridor, and to set the foundation for continued long-term uplift of the stream by giving it a low impact restoration nudge. Performance metric goals for Reach 3 include increasing the QHEI score from 54.5 to 60 or above and increasing IBI scores from 26 to 34 or above. Additional project goals include improving the riparian corridor and wetlands ecological integrity by invasive species removal. During the Project team’s site visit, Phragmites australis and Rosa multiflora were identified as primary invasive species requiring treatment; however, smaller populations of invasive buckthorn were also identified.

This site also serves as excellent habitat with good connectivity to other natural areas for two species of bats: the federally endangered Indiana bat (Myotis sodalis) and the federally threatened northern long-eared bat (Myotis septentrionalis).

The project approach will focus on a targeted, low impact strategy to enhance the existing conditions. In order to achieve the habitat and biological uplift we anticipate, we will employ targeted alterations of the existing conditions by using woody habitat and rootwads, restored riffles, and channel constrictions.