COLUMBUS, OH -- A bronze marker, recognizing Old Woman Creek State Nature Preserve and National Estuarine Research Reserve as a superior example of a freshwater estuary, was dedicated today as part of the state's Bicentennial celebration, according to the Ohio Department of Natural Resources (ODNR).
The marker is one of 10 that ODNR, with the financial support of International Paper Company, is erecting around the state. Each designates an important feature of Ohio's natural history. Additional marker sites are: Clifton Gorge State Nature Preserve in Greene County, Big and Little Darby Creeks in Franklin County, Killdeer Plains State Wildlife Area in Wyandot County, Old Man's Cave in Hocking County, Magee Marsh State Wildlife Area in Ottawa County, Salt Fork State Wildlife Area in Guernsey County, Clear Fork Gorge State Nature Preserve in Ashland County, Spring Valley State Wildlife Area in Greene and Warren counties, and Marblehead Lighthouse State Park in Ottawa County.
More than 200 similar markers, each associated with an important aspect of Ohio's 200-year history, are going up in this Bicentennial year as part of the Ohio Heritage Marker Program.
Old Woman Creek is Ohios only national estuarine sanctuary, a place where chemically distinct bodies of water meet and mix. Its ecosystem features marshlands, sand beaches and upland forests with nearly 300 species of birds, 40 fish species and hundreds of native plants.