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Mahoning River Consortium: Preserving the Mosquito Creek Corridor

by Scott Hardy

The mission of the Mahoning River Consortium (MRC) is to, "restore and maintain higher environmental quality of the Mahoning River, its corridor and its watershed in order to enhance the social, recreational and economic development of the Mahoning River Valley Communities."

A recent acquisition to preserve 100.5 acres of land along Mosquito Creek in Howland Township (Warren City) fits well with the group's mission statement, and aims to improve river health and community interaction with local natural resources.

Trish Nuskievicz, President of the Mahoning River Consortium, recently spearheaded the effort to preserve fragile lands in the river's flood plain and along the riparian corridor.

The acquisition is only the latest addition to over 250 acres of land that have already been preserved along the Mosquito Creek Corridor, including fragile stream banks and headwater tributaries. Much of the protected corridor represents a collaborative effort with the Trumbull County Planning Commission and the hard work of numerous volunteers from the community.

All of these lands were protected with resources from the Clean Ohio Fund, a $400 million program to preserve green space and farmland, improve outdoor recreation, and revitalize neighborhoods by cleaning up and redeveloping polluted properties. The goal of the MRC in using the funds is to protect Mosquito Creek, which spans approximately 8-miles from Mosquito Lake -- the second largest inland lake in Ohio with 2 million recreational visitors per year -- to the Mahoning River.

In addition to protecting fragile riparian habitats, the MRC will soon begin work on a boardwalk trail system, which will help to stimulate recreation and raise awareness about environmental issues along the Mahoning River and its tributaries. The trails will begin at "Up-a-Creek" Tavern and connect to Howland Township Park, where trails connect to North River Road. Soon there will be 3-4 miles of trails from East Market Street all the way to North River Road. The section from Howland Park to North River Road is already up and running.

The Consortium faced several obstacles in trying to preserve the intact corridor, but was able to use community outreach and education as a means to foster collaboration. Along this particular stretch of the river, landowners were not always eager to part with their property without the perceived fair value for the land. Members of the MRC worked diligently on an outreach campaign to convince key stakeholders of the unique ecological value of land in the floodplain, which is often unable to be developed. Eventually all of the MRC's hard work paid off, as another 100.5 acres of the Mosquito Creek Corridor are now preserved in perpetuity.