OAK HARBOR, Ohio – Eight years of planning, partnership, fundraising, and work on the ground came together Aug. 25 as Ducks Unlimited, the Ohio Department of Natural Resources, conservation partners, and supporters gathered to dedicate a major wetland restoration project at Toussaint Creek Wildlife Area near Oak Harbor.
The project restored and enhanced 125 acres of wetland habitat within the 231-acre wildlife area, improving habitat for waterfowl and other wildlife while reconnecting wetlands to the adjacent Toussaint Creek to restore fish passage and strengthening the ecological health of Ohio’s Lake Erie coast.
More than simply celebrating a project, the dedication offered supporters a chance to see what years of collaboration and conservation investment has produced on the landscape.
“This project represents what can be accomplished when dedicated partners work together toward a common conservation goal,” said Russ Terry, Senior Regional Biologist with Ducks Unlimited. “The restoration at Toussaint Creek will provide lasting benefits for wildlife, water quality, and outdoor recreation while preserving an important piece of Ohio’s natural heritage for generations to come.”
Rebuilding a wetland system
Toussaint Creek Wildlife Area sits just a few miles from Lake Erie in one of North America’s most important migratory bird corridors. Today, the area provides habitat for waterfowl, shorebirds, marsh birds, fish, amphibians, and other wildlife.
Getting it to that point required a significant transformation.
Before restoration, the property contained a five-unit wetland management system with aging and failing infrastructure. Managers had limited ability to reliably control water levels, wetland quality had declined, and the system lacked adequate connectivity to the surrounding waterways.
DU and its partners saw an opportunity to rethink the site as a more functional, interconnected wetland complex.
Work ultimately included renovating exterior dikes, removing more than a mile of internal berms, replacing aging water-control infrastructure, and installing structures designed to hydrologically-reconnect wetlands while also allowing fish passage.
The restoration was completed over three phases as partners assembled the funding and resources necessary to move the work forward. Support came from a combination of private contributions and state and federal conservation programs, including Governor DeWine’s H2Ohio Initiative, National Fish and Wildlife Foundation’s Sustain Our Great Lakes, Great Lakes Restoration Initiative funding provided by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, and other sources.
In all, approximately $2.4 million was invested in the project.
The work extended beyond water-management infrastructure. Partners also planted approximately 1,100 trees and 400 shrubs in upland areas throughout the wildlife area, adding habitat diversity that will continue developing in the years ahead.
Conservation through partnership
Speakers at the dedication repeatedly returned to one theme: a project of this scale does not happen through the work of a single organization.
Ducks Unlimited worked alongside the ODNR Division of Wildlife, The Nature Conservancy, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, National Fish and Wildlife Foundation, and numerous other supporters to bring the restoration together. The original project announcement likewise highlighted the partners’ combined roles in improving wildlife habitat, water quality, wetland resilience, and the long-term health of the Lake Erie coastal ecosystem.
Brian Glenzinski, Ducks Unlimited’s Director of Conservation Programs for the Great Lakes Initiative, said projects like Toussaint Creek demonstrate how the many pieces of conservation ultimately come together on the landscape.
“We often talk about the conservation machine, whether that’s policy, funding, science, partnerships, or the work of our major donor program,” Glenzinski said. “A dedication like this gives us the opportunity to celebrate what that machine ultimately produces: habitat.”
Private support, he added, is often what allows DU to begin building those partnerships and leverage additional state and federal resources.
“It starts with our major donors,” Glenzinski said. “We can leverage those private dollars with state funding and then bring in federal funding and other partners. That doesn’t just happen. It takes a team of people putting those grants and partnerships together, and Toussaint Creek is a great example of what that can accomplish.”
That collaboration has become particularly important in northwest Ohio, where Ducks Unlimited and its partners have worked to restore thousands of acres of wetlands across the western Lake Erie basin landscape.
H2Ohio has added another significant tool to those efforts. Launched under Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine, the statewide initiative has supported wetland projects designed to improve water quality while providing habitat and other benefits.
At Toussaint Creek, those investments are now visible on the ground.
Benefits beyond waterfowl
Although wetland conservation remains central to DU’s mission, the benefits of the Toussaint Creek restoration reach well beyond ducks.
Restored wetlands can capture and filter nutrients, hold floodwaters, improve water quality, provide habitat for fish and wildlife, and create opportunities for hunting, birdwatching, and other outdoor recreation. Those functions are especially important in the western Lake Erie watershed, where conservation partners continue working to address water-quality challenges while restoring habitat across a heavily altered landscape.
Toussaint Creek also demonstrates how those goals can overlap.
By improving water management and reconnecting portions of the wetland system, the project provides managers with greater flexibility to maintain productive habitat while improving the movement of water and aquatic species through the site.
“This dedication is more than the celebration of a completed project,” Ohio Division of Wildlife Chief Kendra Wecker said. “It celebrates the partnerships, generosity, and shared commitment that continue to make large-scale conservation possible across Ohio.”
An investment now visible on the landscape
For Ducks Unlimited supporters attending the dedication, the evening also provided an opportunity to see where their contributions ultimately go.
Following the ceremony, guests toured the restored wildlife area and saw firsthand the habitat created through the project. That connection between donors and habitat was central to the celebration. The grants, engineering, fundraising, permitting, partnerships, and years of work can be complicated. The result is much simpler.
For Glenzinski, that is what makes project dedications particularly meaningful.
“Today, we get to celebrate the habitat,” Glenzinski said. “That’s what all of those different pieces ultimately deliver.”
At Toussaint Creek Wildlife Area, 125 restored acres now stand as the result, providing healthier wetlands for wildlife, cleaner water flowing into Lake Erie, and a lasting public resource for northwest Ohio.
