This area will be our greatest challenge, but is also the most important. Iron Run Creek runs behind these wetlands, to meet the Paw Paw River; where it winds and moseys until it hits a series of obstacles. Originally, the river ran through to Lake Michigan. In the 1800s, a dam was added to create Paw Paw’s (man-made) Maple Lake. Efforts to keep the Lake clean have been intense and on-going for as long as we have been here. In the end, the natural way of things are the right way; but the stagnant lake water makes cleansing the river before it hits the lake even more important.
Communities really need to focus more on cause and effect than their immediate goals for invested landowners.
Over the years, which included bulldozing that caused non-Natives to take hold and lack of maintenance as commercial areas were added to the other side of the bank, this area has degraded to non-native species; causing deep thatch and causing loss of erosion control, Native species and healthy water flow. As the water backed up, tree roots began to weaken and fall. Eventually, the woods lost canopy and non-Native ground cover multiplied quickly.
In other words, this is not what healthy wetlands should look like. I will identify the non-Native species in a later post–but have learned that they include both Native and Non-Native species that are aggressive and make it difficult for small animals to move; causing a loss of frogs, turtles, birds, snakes and other animals important to the wetlands ecosystem. Biodiversity is vital! My new mantra.
