If you’ve visited Headlands Beach State Park this summer, you’ve no doubt noticed the construction equipment in the western boundary of the property and wondered what’s going on.
The Ohio Department of Natural Resources is in the midst of replacing the frequently flooded parking lots with a coastal wetland dune / swale plant community.
Crews are removing approximately 7-acres of asphalt parking lots, moving sand to establish dunes and depressions, and planting native wetland species. Most work will be completed before winter 2022 with the planting of the wetland plants in spring 2023 by ODNR staff and volunteers. Native wetland species including seeds, plugs and trees will be planted to stabilize the soil and establish a coastal wetland dune/swale plant community.
The western portion of the park will resemble the dunes at the eastern end, providing migrating species an attractive stopover and further enhancing the importance of the area to migrating species.
This project is supported by a grant from the Great Lakes Restoration Initiative.