Marsh Area Regional Coalition (MARC) - web site

The Marsh Area Regional Coalition (MARC) recently completed Ohio's first Special Area Management Plan (.pdf format) for the Mentor Marsh Area of Preservation and Restoration.

Mentor Marsh State Nature Preserve is a 666 acre marsh-swamp forest that is jointly owned and managed by the ODNR and the Cleveland Museum of Natural History. It was one of the first National Natural Landmark areas designated by the U.S. Department of the Interior in 1966.

MARC is a group of government organizations, private conservation groups and individuals dedicated to the preservation and environmentally sound development of Mentor Marsh and its surrounding environs. Among the nearly 50 federal, state and local agencies represented on the MARC steering committee are the ODNR Office of Coastal Management and divisions of Natural Areas and Preserves, Parks and Recreation, Soil and Water Conservation, Geological Survey and Wildlife.

A Special Area Management Plan is a comprehensive plan providing for natural resource protection and reasonable coastal-dependent economic growth. Such plans contain detailed comprehensive statements of policies, standards and criteria to guide public and private uses of lands and waters as well as outlines of mechanisms for timely implementation in specific geographic areas within the coastal zone.

The Mentor Marsh SAMP promotes wise management and usage of land and waters that have direct and significant impacts on the Mentor Marsh and Lake Erie coastal areas. This plan was created after careful study of the environmental and economic issues facing the area.

The Marsh Area Regional Coalition expects their plan to have several benefits including improving the coordination of resource management and community revitalization efforts at various levels of government, nonprofit organizations, educational institutions and private enterprise. Degraded and threatened biological communities will be restored. Local economies will be revitalized in a way that sustains the unique environment of the region.

This process and plan can also provide a model for additional areas interested in effecting similar changes. Funding for the development of the Mentor Marsh Special Area Management Plan was provided by the Ohio Department of Natural Resources Office of Coastal Management who receives annually funding from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.