At the northern end of Martin Luther King, Jr. Boulevard, adjacent to Gordon State Park and Cleveland Lakefront State Park, lies the 88-acre former dredge site Dike 14. From 1979 to 1999 sediments dredged from the Cuyahoga River and Cleveland Harbor filled the Dike. Closed since 1999 as a disposal site, Dike 14 has become naturalized, reclaimed by nature. As the City of Cleveland develops a plan to make the lakefront more accessible and stimulate economic development, Dike 14, with access to Lake Erie, has taken on new importance. Now a unique wildlife haven, the old dredge site is home to a remarkable diversity of flora and fauna.
Thus far, 280 species of birds, 16 species of mammals, 2 species of reptiles, 26 endemic Ohio plant species and 9 species of trees and shrubs have been documented.
Considered a “high performance” site because of the number and diversity of birds, Dike 14 is an ideal size with its strategic coastal location and a diversity of habitats, including grassland, forest, meadow, mudflat, shrub land and wetlands. Dike 14 is also at the intersection of four migratory bird routes: Lake Erie, the shore of Lake Erie, the Cuyahoga River Valley and the Doan Brook Valley. Vast numbers of birds use this prime location as a migratory stopover because there is not another good site for a 60-mile expanse of shoreline. Dike 14 is indeed a unique bird attraction, and on October 2, 2004 Audubon Ohio designated Dike 14-Doan Brook as an Important Bird Area (IBA).
Other organizations have also acknowledged the value of Dike 14. The Ohio Department of Natural Resources identified the community's preferences for future development of the site. Their findings revealed that the public values: 1) access, 2) maintaining the site as a nature preserve (open green space) and 3) promoting the site for nature education. Local environmental education organizations recognize the unique opportunity Dike 14 offers as an educational resource for children, families and local and regional schools. There is no other urban area like it available that can provide access to the lakefront and such a diverse and rich array of wildlife.
The Cuyahoga County Planning Commission Greenspace Plan heralded Dike 14 as an exceptional wildlife habitat and an opportunity for tourism, nature and science education. The Cleveland Waterfront Coalition has promoted open space and eventual public access to Dike 14 since the 1970s. The League of Women Voters of Cleveland together with Sierra Club of Northeast Ohio and the Dike 14 Committee compiled data and put forward a dynamic Nature Preserve Concept Plan. In the fall of 2002, a series of meetings were convened by Audubon Ohio to discuss the opportunities and challenges of providing environmental education at Dike 14. These meetings gave participants the opportunity to review the distinctive history of the area and identify the resources needed to promote it. The leadership and interests of these organizations came together to form the Dike 14 Environmental Education Collaborative. The Collaborative is composed of key northeast Ohio and Ohio-based institutions. Members include Audubon Ohio, Cleveland Metroparks Outdoor Education, Cleveland Museum of Natural History, Cuyahoga Valley National Park Association, Earth Day Coalition, Lake Erie Nature and Science Center and The Nature Center at Shaker Lakes.
The goal of this unique collaborative is to provide exemplary multi-interdisciplinary environmental education to Cleveland's students, teachers and families, and to promote environmental stewardship of Dike 14 itself. The Collaborative has begun an effort to inform the public about this important project. Ongoing strategic outreach to schools, teachers and the nearby community are helping to build interest and support of the dike as a nature preserve.
Additional environmental testing and a risk assessment must be conducted because of the dike's history as a dredge depository. If the risk assessments show that the site is safe for environmental education usage, Dike 14 can be protected and promoted as a nature preserve. This has been done successfully at a similar disposal site in Buffalo, New York, and it can be done right here in the heart of Cleveland.
Our children need wild places within their reach so they can connect with nature. Many children in Cleveland live less than a mile or two from the shore of Lake Erie but seldom actually get to see the lake. There are children who have never seen a bird's nest, heard the wind in the trees along the shore or had a chance to discover the many other wonders of the natural world. Cleveland's students, teachers and families deserve the pleasure of having access to Lake Erie and a natural area for enjoyment and environmental education at Dike 14.
For more information about Dike 14 or the Environmental Education Collaborative, please contact Chris Trepal at Earth Day Coalition, (216) 281-6468.
Chris Trepal is the Executive Director of Earth Day Coalition. Earth Day Coalition protects Ohio's environment, quality of life and public health through student leadership, cleaner transportation, pollution prevention, sustainable development and EarthFest, Ohio's largest environmental education event. For more information call (216) 281-6468 or visit www.earthdaycoalition.org.
Arial photo by Ken Winters, courtesy of the US Army Corps of Engineers. Wildlife photos courtesy of the US Fish and Wildlife Service. Additional photos courtesy of Earth Day Coalition.
