Re: NANFA-- Ohio farmland and a valuable book

Robert Carillio (darterman_at_hotmail.com)
Sat, 16 Sep 2000 17:49:15 EDT

Jay, I may be interested in that book and am writing down the info. I'll bet
The Great Black Swamp was a very erie and forboding place!!! I remember one
account that in the forested areas of the state, one was lucky if they ever
saw the sky. I just can't imagine that by looking at how much has changed in
such a short time! I have been to one of those prarie preserves in s.w. Ohio
in the Nature Conservancy's 12,000 acre Buzzard Roost Rock preserve. This
area is quite impressive, although the prarie part can be easily missed if
one doesn't look hard enough! As for the fish, I wonder what was found
throughout? I know that the state has re-introduced the Pirate Perch,
though....

>From: "Jay DeLong" <thirdwind_at_att.net>
>Reply-To: nanfa_at_aquaria.net
>To: <nanfa_at_aquaria.net>
>Subject: NANFA-- Ohio farmland and a valuable book
>Date: Sat, 16 Sep 2000 10:50:30 -0700
>
>Yeah, Rob, the Great Black Swamp was probably home to a very different fish
>fauna than are there now. I imagine the present ranges of fishes like the
>pirate perch (not found in Ohio for decades) and the bowfin are quite
>different than before that wetland was drained.
>
>Most of the land in Ohio now in agriculture was once heavily forested.
>Prairies never made up much of the landscape there. According to K. Roger
>Troutman in "Ohio's Natural Heritage" there were about 300 treeless
>prairies
>ranging in size from a few acres to more than several townships. Ohio
>prairies were small versions of the large western prairies and made up
>about
>1000 square miles (2-1/2 % of the land area). There are a few small
>remnants of native tall grass prairie still in Ohio. Two were preserved
>because they are old cemeteries. One in north central Ohio (I can't
>remember exactly where) that I think is called Smith Cemetery is less than
>500 sq ft in size and when you are in it you feel like you're on a small
>knob because the surrounding farmland has eroded away so much. It's maybe
>2
>feet above the surrounding fields.
>
>In a few cases, when farmers plowed their fields but didn't plant it for
>some reason, native prairie plants sprouted from long-dormant seeds. This
>happened in an area now known as Chapparal Prairie Nature Preserve in south
>central Ohio which was for many years a tobacco field. Of course the
>farmland of Ohio and throughout the midwest is here to stay, but it's not
>too late for the streams and rivers of the region to make great strides
>towards recovery from human activity!
>
>Anyone interested in the natural history of Ohio should locate this book:
>Ohio's Natural Heritage
>Michael Lafferty, Editor
>Ohio Academy of Science, 1979
>I just did a search on Bibliofind and found 6 copies starting at $24.
>
>--
>Jay DeLong
>Olympia, WA
>
> > -----Original Message-----
> > From: owner-nanfa_at_aquaria.net On Behalf
> > Of Robert Carillio
> > Sent: Saturday, September 16, 2000 7:14 AM
> > To: nanfa_at_aquaria.net
> > Subject: Re: NANFA-- Natives should get TV exposure
> >
> >
> >
> > In Milton Trautman's FISHES OF OHIO, there is a section in the
> > begining that
> > describes Ohio from the early 1700's. Just going back that far
> > was amazing
> > to read about. How western Ohio contained what was called "The
> > Great Black
> > Swamp" along the coast of Lake Erie must have been an incredible
> > sight.... a
> > swamp stretching 120 miles long, and 40 miles wide. Today, onle remnants
> > remain along the shores of the lake. These are protected, and one
> > can get a
> > glimpse into the past in that area. The land has been drained for
> > agricultural use and the like.... you know how it goes!!!.... The
> > tall grass
> > prarie descriptions are also incredible. If any one gets a chance, they
> > should read this section of that book!
>
>
>
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/"Unless stated otherwise, comments made on this list do not necessarily
/ reflect the beliefs or goals of the North American Native Fishes
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/ This is the discussion list of the North American Native Fishes Association
/ nanfa_at_aquaria.net. To subscribe, unsubscribe, or get help, send the word
/ subscribe, unsubscribe, or help in the body (not subject) of an email to
/ nanfa-request_at_aquaria.net. For a digest version, send the command to
/ nanfa-digest-request_at_aquaria.net instead.
/ For more information about NANFA, visit our web page, http://www.nanfa.org