Rebuilding Refuge; Restoring a Watershed from the Headwaters to Lake Erie.

We just finished construction and before it was even finished, birds were already using the site. If you came out and saw the design plans, you're looking at a bunch of rocks, but then when you actually see it in person and see what it's doing, you see eagles, you see the shorebirds dabbling in the flats, you have egrets, you have the great blue herons all sitting there together at once. You really have created a magical place out here on the bay. This is our Pickerel Creek West nature-based barrier project. It's going to end up going almost a mile to protect the erosion from the shoreline. You can see how the rock barriers that we've created help lessen that wave action before it reaches the shoreline. The bay used to be full of wetland vegetation and you can see today that there's almost nothing growing. That vegetation was like the everglades of Lake Erie. It helps filter and clean the water. That function has gone away, so we really want to get wetland vegetation established. By reducing the wave energy, we can create calm, quiet waters that are good conditions for that vegetation to start growing. For me, the most hopeful part of all of this is the collaboration that is happening within the watersheds. There are lots of projects going on and we're here in the bay where everything empties in. We're all working together to really improve water quality in Lake Erie. It's not just one project, it's dozens of projects that are going to make the difference. Water connects the communities that we live in. It connects the wildlife that uses these river corridors from the agricultural community to duck hunters at our coastal wetlands to communities that are dealing with flooding and dealing with issues about their drinking water supply. My team works with the agricultural producers and partners to make sure we're growing food in a safe and healthy way. We have the natural infrastructure team that's really focused on restoration opportunities within the watershed. We have government relations teams that work on policy and we're really well positioned to find unique and different solutions for the bay. The Nature Conservancy has been working in and around the Sandusky River watershed for over 10 years. We can see that the water quality is getting better. We hear from the hunting and fishing community that we are seeing improvements. We do still have algal blooms in the bay, so while we've seen improvements, we know we still have work to do. Our mission is to tackle the big global challenges of today and tomorrow, protecting and preserving biodiversity, tackling climate change, and making sure we are providing food and water sustainably for both people and nature. The Sandusky Bay Project is a really nice example of all of those goals coming together in one watershed. This is my home. I grew up on Sandusky Bay and to be able to be a part of improvements for wildlife, improvements for people, is so meaningful to me. We're showing how we can work with nature and not against it.