Pickett Run Wetlands & Woods at the Sanctuary -
30 acres
The Arc is fundraising to purchase 28.4 acres consisting of two tracts within the Sad Song region of the Highlands Nature Sanctuary: Pickett Run Wetlands and Pickett Run Woods.
Pickett Run Wetlands’ main features are the sizeable wetlands it protects along its western boundary, which are fed by coldwater alkaline springs lying on limestone bedrock. Alkaline-tolerant plants, such as skunk cabbage and marsh marigold thrive in the cool spring soils of Pickett Run Wetlands. The property likely boasts THE largest colony of marsh marigolds in the entire Sanctuary region. In summer, water-loving plants such as swamp goldenrod, blue lobelia, and the rare Riddell’s goldenrod grow in the wetlands. The Highlands Nature Sanctuary’s 385-acre forest unfragmented forest block known as Sad Song borders the property to the southeast.
Pickett Run Woods’ forest is young but recovering well from the last timber harvest that took place around 25 years ago. The property shelters a fern-rich ravine, and has several large hickory trees as well as beech, red maple, oaks, etc.
The acquisition of Pickett Run Wetlands and Woods helps fill in two more pieces of the Highlands Nature Sanctuary “puzzle” and takes the Arc one step closer to connecting Sanctuary East with Sanctuary West as you can see on the map below. Photo left: Skunk cabbage in bloom at Pickett Run Wetlands. Photo by Tim Pohlar.
Project Cost: $402,436 (Clean Ohio Assisted)
Stewardship Cost: $100,000
Protecting Pickett Run Wetlands’ rich water resources. Pickett Run Wetlands protects the final length of Pickett Run before it drains into Rocky Fork Creek, as well as both sides of the stretch of the Rocky Fork corridor that lies on the parcel downstream of its confluence with Pickett Run. Its acquisition provides the opportunity for the Rocky Fork Watershed’s continued defragmentation and improved water quality protection.
Protecting and restoring a rare wetlands. Pickett Run Wetlands protects 2.98 acres of wetland habitat (a habitat that is quite limited and uncommon in this region). Restoration activities planned for the wetland areas include invasive species management, removal of the trash and vacant, dilapidated buildings from the property, earthwork to redirect and retain surface water into wetland areas, and plantings to supplement existing wetland species in the floodplain.
Visitor Services Planned. The Arc intends to install a trailhead parking lot in the footprint of the existing structures at Pickett Run Wetlands, as well as a 2.3-mile-long trail that will take visitors in the Sad Song region of the Highlands Nature Sanctuary, which Clean Ohio helped purchase in 2003 (the Arc’s very first Clean Ohio project!). Sad Song protects the largest contiguous forest block within the Sanctuary, encompassing both the main channel of Sad Song Creek and the two large forested hills that drain into it. Sad Song Creek is a spring-fed cold-water creek that is lined with limestone bluffs and winds around large slump blocks. The creek is bordered with an impressive density of karst-country spring wildflower, mosses, liverworts, ferns, and woodland sedges.