College to decide fate of neighboring wetlands soon

College must decide whether to sell, and to whom

The College will soon decide whether to sell 30 acres of farmland, known as the Clark Farms, currently returning to its natural wetland state.

Bids on the land are being offered by the farmer who is currently leasing it and a group of neighbors and other community members, the Oberlin Community Restoration Project (OCRP), who hope to restore the wetlands.

OCRP is soliciting support through petitions and fundraising. Student members are approaching organizations such as the Oberlin Student Cooperative Association for financial support, while OCRP coordinator John Hunt has been soliciting aid from the local community with the possibility of obtaining a community owned and run tract of land in mind.

Though the deadline for bids was Wednesday, President Nancy Dye and Vice President of Operations Donna Raynesford have not had time to make a decision, according to Administrative Assistant for the Division of Operations Betty Walden.

"We now have a choice to make, but absolutely no action or decision has been made," Walden said.

The farmer presently renting Clark Farms - whose identity remains anonymous - made a bid to buy the land on March 11. According to Brad Masi, one of the organizers of the environmental studies building project and a member OCRP said that he believes the farmer is making a bid in order to "gain more jurisdiction" over the land.

OCRP Coordinator John Hunt said, "We believe, once the land is drained, if it is drained, it will be used to develop housing." Hunt said he does not know for a fact whether the land will be used to develop housing.

Currently, the land is recovering from a process known as tiling. According to Professor of Biology David Benzing, tiling places large tiles 2 to 4 feet beneath the topsoil in order to "prematurely lower water levels."

The tiling process is conducted to make wetlands more arable for agriculture. Land which is tiled allows farmers to plow, fertilize and sow, with enough time for a good growing season and a high yield of crops.

The tiles beneath Clark Farms, however, are old and have not been functioning efficiently, which is resulting in the return of the land to its natural wetland state.

Benzing said that it would not be cost efficient, at this point, to retile the land solely for agricultural use.

College junior Eric Lohan, a member of OCRP, said, "If the land is filling in and turning back into wetlands, there is probably not much good soil left."

According to OCRP, the land's value would significantly increase if it were developed because of its location on Oberlin's corporation limits.

Many environmentalists see wetlands as a vital part of the earth's landscape. According to a brochure created by Lohan, college junior Tania Kupczak and Masi, wetlands are "semi-aquatic lands that are inundated by water for varying portions of the year."

Masi noted that wetlands function as "nature's kidneys" by filtering silty water. The brochure also states that wetlands protect the earth from floods by absorbing waters that overflow river banks.

Lohan called the wetlands "a magnet for life," because they provide a unique combination of both pond and forest habitats, making it habitable for several species, including rare and endangered animals.

Fifteen-year-old Jeremiah Hunt, son of Hunt, has observed Great Egrets, Loggerhead Shrikes and Eastern Bluebirds, three rare and endangered birds, on Clark Farm.

Masi said, "A lot of the mass flooding we're having in the Midwest has been exacerbated by the decline of wetlands which serve as sponges for flood waters."

Ohio's decline of wetlands is particularly extreme. Whereas 53 percent of wetlands in the lower 48 states have disappeared, 90 percent of Ohio's original wetlands have been lost.

Lohan said, "Much of Ohio's wetlands have been lost, so in order to regain any significant amount of that land, we need to preserve and restore. This is an important opportunity to do that." vIn addition to the many ecological functions of wetlands, the people involved with OCRP have also pointed to the many potential educational benefits restoring this wetland would have. Lohan and Hunt mentioned using the land as a "living lab" area for natural science classes, as well as a possible demonstration of creating a sustainable agriculture.

Lohan, Hunt and Masi all stressed that the College has been very helpful and open to their suggestions.

Masi said, "We are not just urging the College to hold back [on selling the land to the current renter] but to offer positive alternatives and a living demonstration of how we can live in harmony with the earth."

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Wetlands need our protection (4/26/96)