The Ohio Department of Natural Resources has recently approved 30 Clean Ohio Trails Fund grants that will help Ohioans connect to nature. Grants totaling over $8 million were distributed for the construction of new trails, bridges, bike lands and abandoned railroad and greenway corridors. The trail program will complete regional trails, connect to statewide trails and preserve natural corridors. Investments in trails enhance foot and bike travel, boosts educational opportunities and provides safe, scenic areas while helping Ohioans maintain a healthy lifestyle.
In Ottawa County, Danbury Township Board of Trustees received $126,343 for Meadowbrook Marsh North Trail. Sandusky Country Pak District received a grant for $375,000 for the North Coast Inland Trail in Clyde and Bellevue. Lucas County received $434,000 for the construction of 1.3 mile pedestrian bike path that will run through the City of Sylvania along the Ottawa River and Ten Mile Creek.
In addition to providing humans with recreational and educational opportunities, natural areas provide habitat for plants and animals of all kinds. Ecosystems such as forests, wetlands, prairies and rivers and the plants and animals that survive on them are interdependent on each other. However, due to increasing development the connections between natural areas are often lost or increasingly dangerous. Areas that are left become isolated, fragmented patches. When wildlife cannot fulfill its needs in one patch, it will search out new areas; the results can often be seen on the sides of busy highways as road kill. If the spaces between fragmented ecosystems become too large or too dangerous to cross, a species could disappear from an area.
Corridors like the pedestrian bike path in Sylvania often link ecosystems and provide a relatively safe travel route for animal species. In addition to abandoned railroad beds, corridors can be composed of riverbanks and hedgerows. The Clean Ohio Trails Fund, while enhancing the lives of Ohioans, also enhances the lives of plants and animals.
The Clean Ohio Fund began in 2000 with a $400 million bond program. In 2008, the Clean Ohio Fund was a critical component of the Ohio Bipartisan Job Stimulus Plan with a goal of future economic prosperity. Over 15,000 Ohioans jobs were retained in the creation over 200 miles of trails, keeping the state environmentally sound and economically viable. Other Clean Ohio Fund Programs include the Brownfield Revitalization, Farmland Preservation, and Green Space Conservation.
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