Protecting Habitats
Winous Point, originally founded as a hunting club has combined its passion for waterfowl hunting with wetlands protection. Decades of marsh plant life die-off from erosion, degraded water quality, and invasive carp action prompted Winous Point to first protect over 1,200 acres of marsh with earthen dikes in 1920. Since that time, Winous Point has protected approximately 2,500 acres of coastal marsh through a network of dikes and water-control structures including the recent restoration of 380 acres in Sandusky County. The Winous Point Marsh Conservancy now manages close to 5,000 acres of property in Sandusky and Ottawa Counties.
Winous Point has been at the forefront of wetlands protection in Ohio. Currently approximately 1000 acres of Winous Point wetlands are protected under permanent conservation easements and the 2,400-acre Muddy Creek Bay is protected as a Waterfowl Refuge under a cooperative agreement with the Ohio Division of Wildlife.
Winous Point has also been instrumental in protection of habitats through progressive management techniques. Winous Point worked to reconnect 1,500-acres of diked wetland to adjacent drainage ways, filtering the runoff from more than 2,000 acres of farmland thus improving water quality and flood control in the watershed. Winous Point has recently been at the forefront of invasive species management on private lands, beginning first with purple loosestrife biological control, more recently by aiding with grant-funding for common reed control, and now by partnering with local agencies to identify and target new invasive species in the region.