MANSFIELD — The verdant swath of undeveloped land north of Cook Road is a nature lover’s paradise — full of woods, wetlands, waterfalls and mysterious white tubes.
The tubes are scattered across former farmland, stretching towards the sky and puzzling the residents of the neighborhood across the street.
So what are they and why are they there?
Robin Christensen, a project manager with the Western Reserve Land Conservancy, said the plastic poles are there to protect tree saplings from hungry deer.
In 2019, the WRLC purchased 287 acres of land between Marion Avenue, South Home, West Cook and Trimble Road. The organization named the property the Niss Waterfall Preserve.
During 2021 and 2022, the WRLC planted approximately 28,000 native seedlings across 67 acres.
Christensen said the number accounts for the fact that not every sapling will survive.
“Some will be eaten, some will die of drought. Maybe only 20,000 of them will actually do well,” she said.
Nevertheless, WRLC workers noticed the saplings weren’t growing like they should. Many were being munched down to the roots each winter.
That prompted the organization to install around 1,000 protective tubes.
What kind of trees were planted?
The Western Reserve Land Conservancy planted a variety of native tree saplings. They include White Oak, Black Oak, Red Oak, Bur Oak, Sugar Maple, Black Walnut, Tulip Poplar, Eastern Cottonwood, Black Cherry, Shellbark Hickory, Mockernut Hickory, Basswood, Sassafras, Redbud, Eastern White Pine, Yellow Buckeye, Persimmon and Sweet Gum.
Fortunately, deer grazing didn’t kill the saplings right away. The roots of the trees are still active and able to spur growth in the spring.
“There’s an insane amount of deer here,” Christensen said. “(The saplings) were all still there, hanging on, barely.”
According to Christensen, the WRLC only installed one thousand tubes due to cost and labor. Each tub will have to be manually removed once the trees are large enough to thrive on their own.
“It usually takes five years for them to pop up through the tube and they can have leaves that are out of range for the deer to browse,” Christensen said.
The tubes aren’t the only response the WRLC is taking to robust and hungry deer population.
The WRLC also permits bow hunting through the Ohio Landowner/Hunter Access Partnership Program. OLHAP which allows a limited number of people to obtain permits to hunt on private property.
Richland B&O Trail to extend through the preserve
Christensen said the WRLC’s ultimate goal is to transfer the land to an entity like the Richland County Parks District that can operate it as a public park.
In the meantime, the land remains private property. The WRLC’s ongoing restoration efforts include developing native pollinator gardens and reforesting portions that had been timbered for farming.
The WRLC has granted the city of Mansfield access along the north side of the property to build a connector path to the Richland B& O Bike Trail.
Adena Construction was awarded a $1.9 million contract to construct the path last month.
The 1.1 mile, ten-foot-wide trail will start at the tunnel beneath Trimble Road, then meander west through the Niss Waterfall Preserve and land owned by OhioHealth. It will connect with the B&O Bike trail just southeast of the Marion Avenue and Home Road intersection.
City engineer Bob Bianchi said the project is slated to start in February and be completed in late August.
Once the connector is complete, the public will be able to traverse the property, but will be asked to stay on the trail.
“While we’re really excited and we want it to be a public park someday, it’s not yet,” Christensen said.
