'Seasons Road Fen' Restoration Update

Travelers and residents along Seasons Road in Streetsboro may have noticed increased activity at one of Portage Park District’s newest properties, the 112-acre Seasons Fen Preserve.  The District partnered with Western Reserve Land Conservancy in 2019 to obtain funding through the Ohio Environmental Protection Agency’s Water Resource Restoration Sponsorship Program (WRRSP) for the acquisition and ecological restoration of the property.  Planned restoration work includes the enhancement of the existing 57.3 acres of wetlands, creation of an additional 5 acres of wetlands, and enhancement of a reach of a tributary to Tinkers Creek with installed riffle habitat. The establishment of 12 acres of native meadow and reforestation of 41 acres is also planned.   Other funded work includes the removal of trash and plugging a defunct oil and gas well.

Portage Park District became the official owner of the property in spring of 2022. Since that time, the park district has been working with its contractor, EnviroScience, and the Ohio EPA to solidify restoration goals and implement plans.  Field work began in the summer of 2022 with continuing efforts to reduce large stands of invasive plants from the wetlands on the property, particularly common reed and purple loosestrife.  More recently, a temporary road of timber mats was installed to provide access for the plugging of the well, which was completed last week.  A 0.29 acre created wetland area has been completed and work is beginning on six more created wetland areas.  Excavation work is expected to wrap up in the next few weeks.  

Seasons Fen Preserve is part of an extensive wetland system that once included a network of fens.  The Nature Conservancy’s Herrick Fen and Beck Fen State Nature Preserves, and the Ohio Department of Natural Resources Division of Natural Areas and Preserves Gott Fen State Nature Preserve were the only protected fens remaining in the network until this project.  The restoration work is aimed at restoring remnant fen habitat on the site and reestablishing it where soil and ground water conditions indicate that fen habitat existed prior changes in land use.  Portage Park District will work closely with DNAP and TNC to source native plant seed from other fens in the network to establish additional communities of uncommon vegetation found only in fens.

2022 Drone Spraying

Fall 2023 Invasive Species Controlled

Timber Road Installation


Well Plugging


Wetland Enhancement