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 ______________________________________________________________________ Ohio-birds mailing list, a service of the Ohio Ornithological Society. Our thanks to Miami University for hosting this mailing list. Additional discussions can be found in our forums, at www.ohiobirds.org/forum/. You can join or leave the list, or change your options, at: http://listserv.muohio.edu/scripts/wa.exe?LIST=OHIO-BIRDS Send questions or comments about the list to: [log in to unmask]