Help save our valuable Mosquito Creek wetlands! The Mosquito Creek corridor, a tributary to the Mahoning River, is being threatened by development.
The proposed development, Enterprise Park, is located on 106 acres of forest and forested wetlands in the Mahoning Valley in NE Ohio. The Ohio EPA has already issued that 401 permit allowing the developer to fill the wetlands and build on the property. The next step is review by the US Army Corps of Engineers for the 404 permit, the last permit before the wetlands are destroyed!
Help us Fight for this Wetland
The funds collected here will go toward the appeal process staring with the OH EPA; we have filed the appeal and have a court date in early September. If the US Army Corps of Engineers issue a permit, an appeal will be filed for that permit as well. Any excess funds over$100 will be donated to Ohio Wetlands Association to go towards protecting wetlands or educating about wetlands (https://www.ohwetlands.org/).
Why do we care?
Over 90% of the wetlands in Ohio have already been destroyed. This area already has frequent flooding and resulting property damage. Filling in of this wetland will just exacerbate the flooding. In addition, this is an important bird migration path (see https://www.audubon.org/important-bird-areas/mosquito-creek-corridor) and contains many flora and fauna that are threatened.
Sign Our Petition (at Care2 Petitions: https://www.thepetitionsite.com/824/715/027/save-the-mosquito-creek-wetlands-corridor-and-protect-your-water/) The Mosquito Creek Watershed is a part of the larger Mahoning River Watershed which is still recovering from a legacy of unrestrained industrial impacts. Join concerned citizens of the Mahoning Valley and support this petition that opposes the destruction of wetlands.
• Protect from flooding: These wetlands help protect homes and lands downstream from flooding. Filling this wetland will increase flooding risks downstream.
• Safeguard Water Quality: Wetlands naturally improve water quality by filtering nutrients, pollutants, and sediment, and will decrease potential for harmful algal blooms downstream.
• Impact Climate Change: Forests are the only effective natural terrestrial means to remove carbon dioxide from the atmosphere; removal of existing forests will exacerbate climate warming.
• Preserve Biodiversity: This urban wetland, one of the finest in Ohio, is an oasis for biodiversity. The Mosquito Creek Wetlands Corridor is well known as a corridor for bird migration, and habitat for unique amphibians and plants. Fragmenting these wetlands will result in the loss of biodiversity in the larger complex.
• Location Alternatives: There are many alternative locations for this proposed development. Our Mahoning Valley would benefit from reinvestment in areas that have been otherwise abandoned.
Join Sierra Club in the fight to save our wetlands: https://addup.sierraclub.org/campaigns/protect-ohio-wetlands-from-development
