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Dike 14 Nature Preserve is an existing 88-acre former dredge disposal site
that has become an extraordinary wildlife haven adjacent to Gordon State
Park/Cleveland Lakefront State Park at the northern end of Martin Luther
King Jr. Drive in the heart of Cleveland, Ohio. Over the years, Dike 14 Nature
Preserve has become naturalized and provides a exceptional opportunity for
access to Lake Erie as well as access to a remarkable diversity of birds
that either make their home in or use the area as a rest stop during migration,
plants and other wildlife. Hundreds of species of birds have been sighted
at Dike 14 Nature Preserve along with butterflies, native Ohio plant species
(trees, shrubs, wildflowers, grasses), mammals (coyote, deer, fox, mink,
rabbits, raccoon), and reptiles.
Save the Date: Saturday, September 26, 2009, Fall Open House tour of the Nature Preserve. Click here for a list of birds observed at the May 16, 2009 open house, Nature in the Neighborhood.
Jim Bissell, Curator of Botany at the Cleveland Museum of Natureal History recently confirmed a new plant species to Cuyahoga County, growing in an unlikely habitat near the Dike 14 Nature Preserve. In June 2001, Jim visited Dike 14. When he left he cut across the lake bluff on State Park land and collected a few sedges from a seep on the Lake Bluff. The sedge, new to Cuyahoga County, keys to Carex brevior, a State Threatened species known from only two locations in Northeastern Ohio, NASA Plumbrook and the Museum’s North Kingsville Sand Barrens. The Museum’s Herbarium also has a historical specimen from Cedar Point in Erie County. Jim plans to relocate the population and do a count this June. 
Image courtesy of USDA-NRCS PLANTS Database / Hurd, E.G., N.L. Shaw, J. Mastrogiuseppe, L.C. Smithman, and S. Goodrich. 1998. Field guide to Intermountain sedges. General Technical Report RMS-GTR-10. USDA Forest Service, RMRS, Ogden.
The Collaborative installed an informational kiosk on November 19, 2007 at the Cleveland Lakefront State Park near the entrance to the Dike 14 Nature Preserve.
Take a look and learn a little about the history and plans for the nature preserve. Thank you to the Cuyahoga Soil & Water Conservation District, Cleveland Metroparks and Cleveland Lakefront State Park for their help and support.
More new signage on site at the Dike 14 Nature Preserve: Thanks to Robert Fischer , a 16-year-old Shaker Heights High school student, who completed the project as part of his Eagle Scout community project. Robert designed, built and installed the signs with the help of his father Andy after meeting with the Dike 14 Environmental Education Collaborative over the course of a few months. Project time was approximately 85 hours. Thanks Robert!
 
Click here for more general
information on Dike 14 Nature Preserve.
Click
here for an article on the Dike 14 Nature Preserve in Balanced Living
Magazine.
Environmental testing and a risk assessment were conducted
because of the source of the dredgings. Partners Environmental Consulting, Inc. from Solon, Ohio was the contractor for the environmental testing and risk assessment, working with The Cuyahoga Soil and Water Conservation District. The US Environmental Protection Agency granted funds of $200,000 for the Dike 14 Brownfield assessment and risk analysis. An 8-acre landfill is part of Dike 14. (The landfill was used from 1968 to 1970). Any disturbance to a landfill must receive authorization from the Ohio Environmental Protection Agency before the work begins in accordance with Ohio Administrative Code 3745-27-13, commonly called Rule 13. This assessment project is now complete. Click here to access the quarterly reports, the Phase I & II, and ecological and human health assessments posted at cuyahogaswcd.org.
The risk assessments shows that controlled public access is safe for its
environmental education usage. Now the Dike 14 Nature Preserve can be protected
and promoted as a nature preserve to provide environmental education to
residents and school children. This has been done successfully at a similar
disposal site in Buffalo, NY, called Times Beach.
During its history, Dike 14 Nature Preserve has become a unique bird attraction
on our city’s lakefront. It has been called a “high performance” site because of the number and diversity of birds using the site. Birds
use Dike 14 Nature Preserve as a migratory stopover site because of its
size, its strategic coastal location and the diverse wildlife habitats (grasslands,
forest, meadows, mudflats, shrublands, and wetlands). Dike 14 Nature Preserve
is located at the intersection of four migratory bird routes: Lake Erie,
the shore of Lake Erie, the Cuyahoga River Valley and the Doan Brook Valley.
There is no other good stopover site for a 60-mile expanse of shore; the
closest other sites being Mentor to the east and Huron to the west. Audubon
Ohio has designated Dike 14 Nature Preserve as an Important Bird Area (IBA).
For more information on IBAs click here.
Earth Day Coalition is part of a diverse and unique collaborative to provide
a Dike 14 Nature Preserve-centered educational resource for children,
families and local and regional schools. We would like to welcome our newest member - the Ohio Department of Natural Reources, Cleveland Lakefront State Park. The Dike 14 Environmental
Education Collaborative is composed of:
• Cleveland Botanical Garden www.cbgarden.org
• Cleveland Metroparks, Outdoor Education www.clemetparks.com
• Cleveland Museum of Natural History www.cmnh.org
• Cuyahoga Valley National Park Association www.cvnpa.org
• Earth Day Coalition www.earthdaycoalition.org
• Lake Erie Nature and Science Center www.lensc.org
• The Cuyahoga Soil and Water Conservation District www.cuyahogaswcd.org
• The Nature Center at Shaker Lakes www.shakerlakes.org
• Ohio Department of Natural Resources, Cleveland Lakefront State Park www.clevelandlakefront.org
• The Ohio Lepidopterists www.ohiolepidopterists.org/
• Western Cuyahoga Audubon Society www.wcasohio.org
The Collaborative is dedicated to providing exemplary environmental education
for students, teachers, families and the greater community, and promoting
environmental stewardship of the Dike 14 Nature Preserve as a unique place
for people and nature on Cleveland’s lakefront.
"Field Guide: Getting Ready
to Visit the Dike 14 Nature Preserve" is an introduction to the Dike 14 Nature Preserve. The Dike 14 Environmental Education Collaborative encourages you to use this guide and to explore and enjoy the Dike 14 Nature Preserve. In a very short time you will be able to walk the paths of the Nature Preserve, listen to the sounds of the wind, waves and wildlife, learn from interpretive signage and discover and celebrate the diverse wildlife treasures on Cleveland's lakefront.
We invite you to download and store electronically or mechanically one copy of this work for personal or non-profit educational use, provided that the notice of copyright ownership and license appears on the copy made.
This easy-to-use guide has been formatted to include beautiful illustrations, historical, habitat and natural history notes, ecology links and additional resources for you to explore. Click on any of the following sections for a snapshot of the remarkable natural resources that can be found at the Dike 14 Nature Preserve:
Cover - front and back covers; click here to download.
Inside Covers - credits and contact information; click here to download.
Introduction and History, Getting Ready to Visit; click here to download.
History of the Great Lakes, Dredging and the Nature Preserve, Watersheds and Water Quality, Weather and Seasons, Wings and Wind; click here to download.
Birds - pages 16-30; click here to download.
Trees, Shrubs - pages 31-36; click here to download.
Plants, Wildflowers - pages 37-43; click here to download.
Mammals - pages 44-52; click here to download.
Insects, Butterflies - pages 53-58; click here to download.
Reptiles - pages 59-60; click here to download.
Bird Checklist - pages 61-66; click here to download.
Ohio Standards and References - pages 67-72; click here to download.
For more information on the Cleveland Lakefront Plan and the Small Area
Plan for the Kirtland Quay/Gordon Park click here.
To view the city of Cleveland's plan for the Kirtland Quay/Gordon Park
area that includes Dike 14 click here.
The Ohio Department of Natural Resources Office of Coastal Management has developed the "Ohio Coastal Atlas" Second Edition to map and provide geographically-referenced information about the coast of Lake Erie and highlight the many tools and resources for the Lake Erie Watershed. The Atlas is available online at www.ohiodnr.com/coastal/gis. Contact ODNR at coastal@dnr.state.oh.us to inquire about a DVD. Be sure to check the "Habitat" section that mentions the Dike 14 Nature Preserve. Download "Habitat" here.
Dr. Chris Stanton of Baldwin Wallace College is working with a team of students on summer 2008 research projects on the Dike 14 site. BW Summer Scholar Michele is beginning a herpetology survey.Green sheets and wooden cover boards were placed around the site to attract snakes and amphibians. Turtle traps were also placed. Kayla and Katie are monitoring the presence and quality of the aquatic habitats, sampling them for aquatic life and comparing Dike 14's pools to vernal pools in the Metroparks. Greg is catching flying insects that are active around the wetlands with malaise traps. Stephen is conducting a weekly breeding bird census by walking a transect. Picture below are of the research equipment on site.
The following additional information was compiled in the spring of 2004
by Jessica Ferrato, a student at the Environmental Law Clinic, Cleveland-Marshall
College of Law, Cleveland State University.
• Analysis of Dike
14 Nature Preserve which answers some questions about the hierarchy
of jurisdiction over Dike 14 Nature Preserve, the legal considerations which
factor into its land-use planning, and questions pertaining to its future
use.
• A power point presentation
• Additional information
available at Earth Day Coalition office
Check back soon for additional information, updates and Coming Events at
Dike 14 Nature Preserve.
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