Trumbull commissioners endorse Cleveland museum bid for land

The museum also recently acquired a 293-acre property in Bristol Township.

STAFF REPORT

WARREN — Trumbull County commissioners have endorsed a bid by the Cleveland Museum of Natural History to acquire the development rights to a 942-acre strip of land in Hartford and Fowler townships stretching from Yankee Lake village north to Everett Hull Road in northeast Fowler Township.

The museum has applied for $800,000 in Clean Ohio funds so that it can ensure that anyone who owns the wetlands along the Yankee Creek corridor will not develop it, said David Kriska, the museum’s biodiversity coordinator.

The land includes 4.6 miles of Yankee Creek, plus another 6.6 miles of creek tributaries. The museum has identified 13 rare animal species there, which is a high number, Kriska said. Most of the land is south of state Route 305, Kriska said.

The land, part of the 1,342-acre Massausauga Rattlesnake Ranch, is swamp forest and ankle-deep in water during the spring, he said. The property is only about a half-mile wide at its widest part.

The property owners would retain ownership of the land, Kriska said, but the museum could do research there and conduct walking tours for its members and the public.

The museum will need approval from a committee of the Eastgate Regional Council of Governments to receive the money, which comes from a state issue approved by voters several years ago for land preservation.

The museum recently purchased 293 acres of nearly pristine swamp forest in Bristol Township, just north and east of the intersection of Bristol-Champion Townline and Downs roads. The museum also owns land in Mesopotamia Township. It used Clean Ohio money for that acquisition also.