PROPERTY PURCHASED IN WAYNE & ASHLAND COUNTIES
FOR PUBLIC WILDLIFE-RELATED RECREATION
Partnership purchase provides more opportunities for outdoor enthusiasts

AKRON, OHIO – Nearly 60-acres stretching across the Ashland/Wayne county line have been purchased for public wildlife-related recreation, according to the ODNR Division of Wildlife.

As an addition to the wildlife-rich Funk Bottoms Wildlife Area in Wayne County, the 58-acre parcel was purchased for $45,600 using funds entirely from the Wayne County Community Foundation’s Charles W. and Mary K. Mohler Memorial Ohio Wildlife Fund.

“It was the wish of the Mohlers to preserve wildlife in their natural habitat,” said Ferenc M. Relle, Jr., Executive Director of the Wayne County Community Foundation, “and since their endowment fund was established, over 200 acres have been preserved to realize their dream.”

The new addition will open immediately for public hunting, fishing, and trapping opportunities as well as wildlife watching, hiking, and nature study. Approximately 30-acres of the parcel includes cropland; the other portion, approximately 28-acres, consists of wetland and bottomland habitat along approximately 1,000 feet of the Muddy Fork of the Mohican River. The adjacent Funk Bottoms Wildlife Area is well-known by wildlife watchers for a large diversity of wildlife including bald eagles and rarer species such as state endangered sandhill cranes.  Funk Bottoms and this new undeveloped parcel are owned and managed by the ODNR Division of Wildlife.