This past summer residents from the south side of Mount Vernon petitioned Mount Vernon City Council to save the Delano Run/Blackjack Wetlands and protect the 100-year floodplain from development. City Council instead voted 4 to 3 to rezone the RJM Land Development Ltd. property for development. The south side group filed a complaint with the Knox County Courts. But Court of Common Pleas Judge Otho Eyster dismissed the case.

South side leaders then brought together a “preservation group” of Knox County Citizens for Smart Growth, Kenyon College biologists, leaders at the Ohio Dept. of Natural Resources, Kokosing State Scenic River advocates, Knox County Park District members, Regional Planning Commission leaders, Owl Creek Conservancy members, and other biology experts. The Sierra Club and the Ohio Environmental Council supported the preservation effort via online and printed newsletter articles.

Thanks to the work of these organizations, Mount Vernon is in the process of purchasing 53 acres of the Blackjack Wetlands and its associated buffers along Delano Run with the help of a recently approved Clean Ohio Conservation Grant. Owl Creek Conservancy will hold the conservation easement over the property. The City stated in a recent Mount Vernon News article that a park will be developed within the newly designated Blackjack Wetland Preserve. The Clean Ohio Conservation Grant application indicates that the preserve “park” will be limited to guided tours offered by Owl Creek Conservancy and Ramser Arboretum for the purposes of bird-watching, wildlife observation, and wildflower identification. The Blackjack Wetlands Preserve will also afford opportunities for continued wetlands research of its exemplary flora and fauna.

Thanks to all of you who assisted us with the preservation of what experts have said is a “…truly unique and irreplaceable asset”. I applaud Mount Vernon’s Mayor Mavis, Safety Director Daniels, City Council members who voted in July 2003 for emergency approval of the submission of the Clean Ohio Conservation Grant application, NRAC#17 members, RJM Land Development Ltd., and over one hundred dedicated people who had a vision for the preservation of the Blackjack wetlands and Delano Run corridor. It is my sincere hope that consideration will be given to the remaining unprotected 100-year Delano Run Floodplain in Mount Vernon’s future plans for development. 

Freda Chaney is on the Knox County Regional Planning Commission and is a member of Knox County Citizens for Smart Growth. Her article on the threatened development of these wetlands appeared in the May/June issue of the Central Ohio Sierran.