White Pine Bog Forest

Ohio's only remaining old growth white pine boreal bog. © Richard Baumer

A National Natural Landmark, it is the only remaining old growth white pine boreal bog in Ohio.  White Pine Bog Forest is the most significant unit within the Cuyahoga Wetlands, which consists of 1,000 acres of intact wetland and includes Lake Kelso, Snow Lake and Fern Lake.

Location
Geauga County, within the Western Allegheny Plateau Ecoregion.

Plants

• Rare tamarack-hardwood bog community
• Grass-pink orchid
• Necklace sedge
• Early coral-root
• Bunchberry

  UPCOMING EVENTS   August 16 - Cattail Control September 27-28 - Stewardship Weekend campout

• Bog bedstraw
• Butternut
• Marsh spear-grass
• Coarse smartweed
• Hill's pondweed
• Bog willow

Birds

• Bald eagle (White Pine Bog Forest is a nesting site)  
• Hermit thrush
• Marsh wren
• Sedge wren
• Cerulean warbler
• Least bittern
• Virginia Rail
• Canada Warbler
• Yellow-bellied sapsucker

Why the Conservancy Selected This Site
This 375-acre site forms part of Ohio's finest remaining wetlands.  More than a dozen endangered or threatened species are found here.

The greatest threats to this preserve are hydrologic disturbance and degradation of water quality from suburbanization due to surface water runoff, faulty septic systems or increased water use.  Non-native species also pose a threat to the native plant communities.

What the Conservancy Has Done/Is Doing
The wetland communities will be maintained in a natural state to preserve the rare species and communites.  The Conservancy will continue to assess the altered hydrology of the area and work to ensure long-term protection of the Cuyahoga Wetlands complex by involving all of the partners in the area, including the Geauga Park District, the Cleveland Museum of Natural History, and the City of Akron.