Conservancy gifts property to Sandusky County Park District

        Black Swamp Conservancy has gifted its Redhorse Bend Property to the Sandusky County Park District for use as a public park.
        The 93-acre property is located along the Sandusky River north of Fremont and features more than one mile of river frontage. The land, which was previously frequently flooded farmland, was purchased by the Conservancy in 2015 with funding from the Clean Ohio Conservation Fund.
        “Our staff drove by this property for years and couldn’t help but notice just how often it was  flooded. This stretch of the Sandusky River is heavily influenced by Lake Erie and, since the farmland wasn’t productive because of the flooding, we knew it would be perfect location to improve water quality,” said Rob Krain, executive director of the Black Swamp Conservancy.
        The Conservancy recently completed a large-scale restoration of this property with funding from the Ohio Department of Natural Resources through the H2Ohio program.
        Today, the formerly flooded farmland contains a variety of natural habitats including functioning floodplain and wetlands, which help filter phosphorous and other pollutants that are harmful to our lakes and rivers.
        A pollinator meadow was also established in drier portions of the property.
        Redhorse Bend is the second property the Conservancy has gifted to the Sandusky County Park District in recent years as part of this initiative to expand public river access. River Cliff Park, a former golf course, was purchased by the Conservancy and gifted to the park district in 2017. The Park District recently moved its headquarters to that property.
        Together, these properties bookend the City of Fremont with two new public parks, collectively opening more than two miles of natural river access along the Sandusky River. The initiative represents a gift of more than $3 million to the community in land value and ecological improvements made by the Conservancy.