The Corps of Engineers built the Lorain impoundment to hold dredge
spoil, not to preserve Lakeside habitat for birds. These constructions
on behalf of local industry are expensive, and will be exploited to the
fullest, literally. At best, this site may end up like Dike 14 in
Cleveland or the Huron impoundment or any number of similar sites along
Ohio's shore, brimful of chemical-laced mud scooped from rivers and
harbors, and vegetated by whatever plants--native or not, probably
not--end up getting a foothold there. In the meantime, as Jen hinted,
shorebird habitat may improve slightly, but only temporarily.
        Were Lorain's sculpted impoundments of last year just cheap temporary
window-dressing? Even left alone, the soil was a cookie-dough of churned
spoil and chopped-up Phragmites that would soon have ended up just as it
was before. When the impoundment is filled, the USACE will probably
proclaim it a Bird Sanctuary as they have Dike 14, as there is little
other use for it, composed as it is of a huge turd of sludge from Ohio's
most contaminated river.
        Commendably, Cleveland has developed plans for Dike 14 that preclude
the marinas, housing, and commerce that already crowd the lakeshore, and
will include wildlife in the picture. One hopes Lorain will do likewise,
even if the pressure to plant a Casino Toxico there is high. As for
birds, migrant warblers will probably do OK in Bratenahl, and good
numbers of migrant and wintering gulls will continue to use Lorain
Harbor as long as fish die there. Shorebirds will not do so well.
        Natural shores along Lake Erie, even in our 'wildlife' areas, are
nearly erased. The once-enormous marshes of the Western Basin now
connect directly and naturally to the Lake in areas that add up to maybe
a few hundred yards instead of 50 miles. Stagnant, beset by invasive
plants, they ferment behind walls of stone. Temporarily pumping them
down to accommodate shorebirds involves too much trouble and expense,
and often conflicts with management for game species. Since the last
large connection with the Lake was closed at Metzger Marsh over a decade
ago, most big counts of shorebirds have come from Crane Creek, which
necessarily retains a narrow opening to the Lake. Counts are down now.
Dike 14 and Huron don't host shorebirds anymore, even though within
memory they were real Meccas for these birds. And the same will be true
for Lorain soon. What will replace them?
Bill Whan
Columbus




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