Habitat and Ecotourism Flourish at Lake Erie Bluffs

The Takeaway: Coastal Zone Management leadership and NOAA grants helped purchase a 600-acre site that is good for wildlife, good for the public, and good for the environment.

The purchase of the 600-acre Lake Erie Bluffs protects dozens of rare plant and animal species and offers hiking, kayaking, fishing, and bird-watching opportunities. The 50-foot observation tower offers dramatic, 360-degree coastal views. Also protected are 9,000 feet of undeveloped Lake Erie shoreline, allowing for natural bluff erosion and a sand source important to ecosystem health.

A portion of this purchase, 516 acres, was made possible when the Ohio Coastal Management Program partnered with Lake Metroparks to successfully compete for three NOAA Coastal and Estuarine Land Conservation Program grants and one Coastal Wetlands Conservation grant from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. (2017)

More Information: Lake Erie Bluffs

Partners: Coastal and Estuarine Land Conservation Program, Ohio Coastal Management Program, Lake Metroparks, Trust for Public Land, Western Reserve Land Conservancy