Wildlife areas on property watch list

The newly elected Ohio treasurer says the state has a trove of underutilized and abandoned properties that it must examine. And among the top 10 are parts of three state wildlife areas. State Treasurer Richard Cordray said in early February that he has undertaken an inventory of thousands of unused or underused state properties that are ripe for community or private development.

Cordray, a Democrat elected in November, said an initial inventory of state-owned land in 20 counties has turned up 7,364 unused or little used state properties. He estimates about 446 of the parcels could be desirable for developers. Included in the “Top 10 list” on Cordray’s Web site at www.ohiotreasurer.org are three properties managed by the DNR Division of Wildlife. One 120-acre parcel, in Champaign County, is part of the division’s rearing farm where it raises pheasants for stocking. Another 108-acres in Geauga County is part of Auburn Marsh Wildlife Area, while the third is a [24]-acre parcel in Lucas County at the Mallard Club Marsh.

But, it was the Auburn Marsh area in particular that Dave Risley, a Division of Wildlife administrator, found notable on the list.

“Because this area is used for wetland and wetland management (by the state), it would require significant mitigation (to convert to any other use),” said Risley. “That area is so large that I doubt if any other use would be permitted ...

“That area is still being used,” he said. “There’s lots of people up in that area. Waterfowl hunting (is popular) and there’s a bit of deer hunting. Trapping, bird watching, those are part of it, too.”

The Mallard Club Marsh Wildlife Area in Lucas County as recently as 1995 was recipient of a wetland restoration grant from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. Twenty four acres of the property are listed in Cordray’s top 10.