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01-14-2005, 06:46 PM
Article published Tuesday, January 11, 2005
Williams County purchase enhances opportunities
Public fishing, hunting and trapping opportunities in northwest Ohio will grow by 192 acres this year with the purchase of what will be known as the St. Joseph River State Wildlife Area in Williams County.
The new area, located in Superior Township on County Road J southwest of Montpelier, includes a 70-acre quarry-lake, a 35-acre quarry-lake, and two acre-size gravel pits. A quarter-mile of the St. Joseph River runs through it, and the property also contains some woodland habitat.
The Ohio Division of Wildlife expects to open the area to the public later this year, but it remains closed now while surveys are done to determine appropriate uses, said John Daugherty, manager of Ohio Wildlife District 2 at Findlay.
"Our plan is to provide as much outdoor recreation opportunity as possible there," Daugherty said. Preliminary sampling shows some existing gamefish populations in the quarries, but some supplemental stocking may be done, at least initially. "We're still in the process of assessing," said the district manager.
The area was bought at auction in late October for $700,000 from a private individual, who had purchased it from StoneCo Company, which developed and mined stone from the quarries.
Funds for the acquisition came from the division's hunting and fishing-license fund, with possible federal matches from the Dingell-Johnson and Wallop-Breaux funds. The D-J and W-B funds are fueled by excise taxes on fishing tackle and related gear and by a portion of the motorboat fuel tax, respectively.
"Looking at what it takes to build a lake these days, there is no way we could afford to construct a 70-acre lake and a 35-acre lake like these," Daugherty noted.
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http://www.toledoblade.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20050111/COLUMNIST22/501110316
Williams County purchase enhances opportunities
Public fishing, hunting and trapping opportunities in northwest Ohio will grow by 192 acres this year with the purchase of what will be known as the St. Joseph River State Wildlife Area in Williams County.
The new area, located in Superior Township on County Road J southwest of Montpelier, includes a 70-acre quarry-lake, a 35-acre quarry-lake, and two acre-size gravel pits. A quarter-mile of the St. Joseph River runs through it, and the property also contains some woodland habitat.
The Ohio Division of Wildlife expects to open the area to the public later this year, but it remains closed now while surveys are done to determine appropriate uses, said John Daugherty, manager of Ohio Wildlife District 2 at Findlay.
"Our plan is to provide as much outdoor recreation opportunity as possible there," Daugherty said. Preliminary sampling shows some existing gamefish populations in the quarries, but some supplemental stocking may be done, at least initially. "We're still in the process of assessing," said the district manager.
The area was bought at auction in late October for $700,000 from a private individual, who had purchased it from StoneCo Company, which developed and mined stone from the quarries.
Funds for the acquisition came from the division's hunting and fishing-license fund, with possible federal matches from the Dingell-Johnson and Wallop-Breaux funds. The D-J and W-B funds are fueled by excise taxes on fishing tackle and related gear and by a portion of the motorboat fuel tax, respectively.
"Looking at what it takes to build a lake these days, there is no way we could afford to construct a 70-acre lake and a 35-acre lake like these," Daugherty noted.
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http://www.toledoblade.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20050111/COLUMNIST22/501110316