Restoration project begins 50 years after natural park was damaged: 'Will improve water quality and reduce flooding while lowering city mowing costs'

The city of Kenosha, Wisconsin, has partnered with a nonprofit group, Root-Pike Watershed Initiative Network, to restore a 35-acre park that was altered and damaged by development projects decades ago, the Kenosha County Eye reported.

The restoration of the Shagbark Recreational Area will involve planting a dry pond with native vegetation intended to help absorb stormwater. The restoration is expected to have a wide array of environmental benefits, from encouraging more native vegetation to reducing flooding to improving water quality and pollinator habitats.

"We are excited to partner with Root-Pike WIN and appreciate all the grant contributions that will improve water quality and reduce flooding while lowering city mowing costs", said Kenosha Mayor David Bogdala, according to the Eye. "More importantly, these are improvements that will provide richer outdoor experiences for the Bullen and Bradford neighborhoods, and improve water quality in our parks downstream and the Kenosha harbor."

The nonprofit, established in 1998, has been fighting for years to restore, protect, and sustain Wisconsin's watersheds. The group will facilitate the restoration project and oversee it for the next four years.

"We are grateful for the city of Kenosha's support of this valuable prairie restoration project. Having an improved natural area, and a new place for Bradford and Bullen students to study native species while infiltrating more stormwater is a 'win-win-win.' This project marks the beginning of our collective efforts to restore the Pike Creek watershed," Dave Giordano, Root-Pike WIN's executive director, said, per the Eye.

Though development projects have undoubtedly damaged the ecosystem of the Shagbark Recreational Area, projects like this one show that it is not too late for that damage to be undone. 

Other recent encouraging examples of ecosystem restorations have occurred in Oregon, where the state's Department of Fish and Wildlife recently awarded $10 million in grants for habitat restoration projects, and in Ohio, where a former golf course was transformed back into nature.

"This is good! A positive for all!" wrote one commenter on the story about the Shagbark Recreational Area restoration. 

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