OHIO BICENTENNIAL MARKER DEDICATED AT MAGEE MARSH STATE WILDLIFE AREA IN OTTAWA COUNTY COLUMBUS, OH -- A bronze marker, recognizing Magee Marsh State Wildlife Area as a living remnant of Ohio's Great Black Swamp, was dedicated today as part of the state's Bicentennial celebration, according to the Ohio Department of Natural Resources (ODNR). The marker is one of 10 that ODNR, with the financial support of International Paper Company, is erecting around the state. Each designates an important feature of Ohio's natural history. Additional marker sites are Clifton Gorge State Nature Preserve in Greene County, Big and Little Darby Creeks in Franklin County, Old Man's Cave in Hocking County, Killdeer State Wildlife Area in Wyandot County, Salt Fork State Wildlife Area in Guernsey County, Old Woman Creek State Nature Preserve in Erie County, Clear Fork Gorge State Nature Preserve in Ashland County, Spring Valley Wildlife Area in Greene and Warren counties, and Marblehead Lighthouse State Park in Ottawa County. More than 200 similar markers, each associated with an important aspect of Ohio's 200-year history, are going up in this Bicentennial year as part of the Ohio Heritage Marker Program. Magee Marsh State Wildlife Area is a living remnant of the Great Black Swamp that once covered much of northwestern Ohio. Roughly the size of Connecticut, the swamp was a dense tangle of fallen trees and soggy soil that impeded travel across the state until it was drained in the 1800s. Remnant wetlands like Magee Marsh are all that is left of that time and place. Some of the state's rarest wetland plant and animal species call the marsh home.
Source: ODNR
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