2020 - In Review

The year 2020 has been a whirlwind of change in so many ways and on so many fronts, and the MAAC was no exception. Fortunately, it’s good news to report from our AOC and committee! Take a look at the list below for an overview of our accomplishments this year.

• Management Action Projects
  • AquaMAPs – Project list recommended and approved
  • SedMAPs - Project list recommended and approved
  • WildMAPs – Project implementation progress/ some projects completed
• Sampling Programs
  • BUI 8: Water samples were collected from the Ottawa River throughout the summer by a team from The Mannik & Smith Group in order to understand current water quality conditions as they relate to the potential for undesirable algal growth (aka eutrophication).
  • BUI 6: A crew from the US EPA Office of Research & Development conducted benthic macroinvertebrate sampling to help gauge the success of an upcoming sediment removal project along Otter Creek.
  • BUI 10: A sampling team from the USGS collected water samples from Wolf Creek & Berger Ditch to identify sources of bacterial contamination in the area near Maumee State Park.
• Outreach
  • Ohio EPA Maumee AOC Video Premiere
  • MAAC 2019 Annual Report
  • WildMAP Project Spotlights (4 projects)
    • Project cards to highlight AOC projects
    • Project summaries on MAAC website
    • Project posts on MAAC social media pages (Facebook and Twitter)
    • Developing virtual project site tours and interviews (to be formatted into shareable video clips)
  • Maumee AOC Information Brochure

Maumee AOC Brochure

If you didn’t catch the announcements on social media, this one’s for you! A new Maumee AOC brochure was published in September and is available here and on the Maumee AOC resource page. This publication is geared for distribution (electronic and eventually hard copy) at conferences, outreach tables, and meetings, and will provide the reader a comprehensive glance into the Maumee AOC’s background, programmatic structure, and goals and initiatives. The brochure is also full of beautiful photos representing project sites, committee meetings, outreach events, etc.

Please contact Kris Patterson (This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.) if you would consider requesting hard copies for distribution.

Project Highlight – Oak Openings Priority Conservation Area

In keeping up momentum gained from sharing some recent MAAC-recommended project successes, we’ve got another highlight for you! Most, if not all of you are familiar with the Oak Openings Region, an area historically dominated by Oak savannas and wet prairies, and understand it’s ecological value. It is exciting to say that the MAAC works in and around an area that despite its size (just 0.5% of Ohio’s total land area), is home to one-third of Ohio’s rare plant and animal species! Unfortunately, this area has been dramatically altered over the last 200 years through drainage, agriculture, fire exclusion, and urban expansion.

In order to address the loss of wildlife habitat (BUI 14b) associated with the disturbances listed above, Metroparks Toledo, in collaboration with The Nature Conservancy (as part of MAAC-recommended projects MAP 4-16 & MAP 10-16) acquired four separate tracts of land, totaling 31 acres, within areas designated as Oak Openings Priority Conservation Areas. Project goals are to ultimately provide habitat protection for threatened and endangered wildlife species that inhabit the Oak Openings, enhance habitat connectivity by creating corridors between existing protected parks and preserves, and improve water quality within the Lake Erie watershed through the protection of wetlands, floodplains, and uplands draining into the region’s rivers and streams.

Specific management practices used in these parcels to achieve the aforementioned project goals include;

• Preparation of the project areas for native plantings by removing woody invasive plants such as glossy buckthorn encroaching on prairie and savanna habitats using hydro-ax mowing and application of selective herbicides;
• Enhancement of existing high quality habitat through the use of prescribed fire, mowing and other best management practices; and
• Removal of trash and debris left behind by previous landowners.

These sites will enjoy permanent protection from future redevelopment and will act as refuges for native wildlife for years to come! See summaries of more exciting projects on the MAAC projects page!

AquaMAP Project List Approval

Late July saw some much anticipated news come to the MAAC, as it was announced that the AquaMAP Project list was approved by U.S. EPA GLNPO. The 53 projects on this list were evaluated and conceptualized over several years by a dedicated subcommittee. These projects are located across the Maumee AOC and will address BUI 3a (Degradation of Fish Populations), BUI 6 (Degradation of Benthos), and BUI 14a (Loss of Fish Habitat). Management actions include instream habitat restoration, riparian buffer installation/enhancement, two-stage ditch installations, and much more. Please stay tuned for more news as these projects begin and then updates on progress over the next several years!