Steve
02-26-2005, 12:22 PM
LONG OVERDUE OPTIMISM AT MOGADORE
Yours truly has been as disappointed as anyone out there - perhaps even more as an ex-Field High Big Redder - at the precipitous decline in the care and maintenance of our revered Mogadore Reservoir over these last five or six years.
Whereas the fishing has remained largely as productive as ever, the infrastructure and care of the campground, swimming area, back roads, pier, and shorelines have declined to the point of outright embarrassment and shame to those of us who remember when our favorite lake regularly garnered well-deserved national attention as both Ohio's premier ice-fishery
(over Lake Erie!), local largemouth hot-spot, and world-class panfishery - with ambiance to match.
While the general decline commenced decades ago, the collapse in services, safety, and maintenance has been most keenly felt in the last one, the tail-end of which leaving the reservoir and its amenities in almost an outlaw status. The boathouse, waters, and grounds are all too often under the auspices of those from elsewhere, their lack of any heartfelt and tempered attachment to the impoundment almost obscenely obvious.
Now the good news: The City of Akron is back in charge of both Mogadore and LaDue, the latter's unique situation under intense and thorough study as we speak. I'm well aware that Akron's past reign over the reservoir showed mixed results. Dread no further: The new services director for Akron is Jerry Holland, Field High Class of 1963 - by way of Suffield. I, amidst the flurry of rumor and innuendo concerning the subject at sports
shows and the internet, just got off the phone with Mr. Holland. And, unless I was the victim of the biggest snow job since the Donner Pass, I was convinced that priorities are going to change in a very major and evident way.
The first priority will be cleanliness, and the enforcement thereof.
Boat stakes buyers of the last two years of use are currently receiving applications to be the first to secure new stakes at about $50. With the help of his right arm Bob Frist and my old friend Keith Shy at Metroparks, locally raised Jerry Holland is the right type to hasten a much-needed comeback. He assured me that we'll be first to report upcoming news and developments.
*
ANIMAL ROUNDUP DEPT.: Evidence of bobcats living in Ohio's eastern and southeastern counties continues with the confirmation of 14 sightings by state wildlife officials during 2004, according to the Ohio Department of Natural Resources Division of Wildlife. This represents a slight increase from the 10 verified sightings in 2003.
The bobcat was found throughout Ohio during early settlement, but as land was converted for crops and communities the bobcat's population declined. By 1850, the animal could no longer be found living in the state.
A handful of unverified sightings in the 1960s marked the bobcat's
unofficial return to Ohio. Since 1970, state wildlife biologists have
verified 74 bobcat sightings in 32 counties. Verification of the elusive bobcat includes photographs of itself and its tracks; encounters through incidental trapping, from which animals are
later released; recovery of road kill; and sightings by DOW personnel.
The bobcat is an endangered species and protected by state law.
*
Ninety-one black bear sightings were similarly reported in 21 Ohio
counties last year, according to the ODNR. Of that number, state wildlife personnel confirmed 46 of those sightings, more than twice the number confirmed in 2003. The 46 confirmed sightings were in 16 counties and involved about 16 different black bears, the DOW reported. Overall, sightings occurred in every month but January and March, with most being reported in May, June, and July, the peak of black bear breeding and dispersal of young male bears. Thirty-four of the sightings involved damage or nuisance behavior, such as damage to bird feeders, beehives, and garbage containers, as well as consumption of pet food. An estimated 15 bears were involved in these cases.
Most of the 21 counties with bear sightings were in northeastern or southeastern Ohio. Trumbull County led the state, reporting 17
sightings. Ashtabula and Geauga counties followed with 12 and 10 sightings, respectively. Interestingly, there were no reported sightings of sows with cubs.
*
Outdoor Writers of Ohio's Jack Kiser is also host of "The Buckeye
Angler" television program on PBS.Address any comments, questions, and suggestions via E-mail to:
jack@buckeyeangler.com,
or visit his web site www.buckeyeangler.com.
Yours truly has been as disappointed as anyone out there - perhaps even more as an ex-Field High Big Redder - at the precipitous decline in the care and maintenance of our revered Mogadore Reservoir over these last five or six years.
Whereas the fishing has remained largely as productive as ever, the infrastructure and care of the campground, swimming area, back roads, pier, and shorelines have declined to the point of outright embarrassment and shame to those of us who remember when our favorite lake regularly garnered well-deserved national attention as both Ohio's premier ice-fishery
(over Lake Erie!), local largemouth hot-spot, and world-class panfishery - with ambiance to match.
While the general decline commenced decades ago, the collapse in services, safety, and maintenance has been most keenly felt in the last one, the tail-end of which leaving the reservoir and its amenities in almost an outlaw status. The boathouse, waters, and grounds are all too often under the auspices of those from elsewhere, their lack of any heartfelt and tempered attachment to the impoundment almost obscenely obvious.
Now the good news: The City of Akron is back in charge of both Mogadore and LaDue, the latter's unique situation under intense and thorough study as we speak. I'm well aware that Akron's past reign over the reservoir showed mixed results. Dread no further: The new services director for Akron is Jerry Holland, Field High Class of 1963 - by way of Suffield. I, amidst the flurry of rumor and innuendo concerning the subject at sports
shows and the internet, just got off the phone with Mr. Holland. And, unless I was the victim of the biggest snow job since the Donner Pass, I was convinced that priorities are going to change in a very major and evident way.
The first priority will be cleanliness, and the enforcement thereof.
Boat stakes buyers of the last two years of use are currently receiving applications to be the first to secure new stakes at about $50. With the help of his right arm Bob Frist and my old friend Keith Shy at Metroparks, locally raised Jerry Holland is the right type to hasten a much-needed comeback. He assured me that we'll be first to report upcoming news and developments.
*
ANIMAL ROUNDUP DEPT.: Evidence of bobcats living in Ohio's eastern and southeastern counties continues with the confirmation of 14 sightings by state wildlife officials during 2004, according to the Ohio Department of Natural Resources Division of Wildlife. This represents a slight increase from the 10 verified sightings in 2003.
The bobcat was found throughout Ohio during early settlement, but as land was converted for crops and communities the bobcat's population declined. By 1850, the animal could no longer be found living in the state.
A handful of unverified sightings in the 1960s marked the bobcat's
unofficial return to Ohio. Since 1970, state wildlife biologists have
verified 74 bobcat sightings in 32 counties. Verification of the elusive bobcat includes photographs of itself and its tracks; encounters through incidental trapping, from which animals are
later released; recovery of road kill; and sightings by DOW personnel.
The bobcat is an endangered species and protected by state law.
*
Ninety-one black bear sightings were similarly reported in 21 Ohio
counties last year, according to the ODNR. Of that number, state wildlife personnel confirmed 46 of those sightings, more than twice the number confirmed in 2003. The 46 confirmed sightings were in 16 counties and involved about 16 different black bears, the DOW reported. Overall, sightings occurred in every month but January and March, with most being reported in May, June, and July, the peak of black bear breeding and dispersal of young male bears. Thirty-four of the sightings involved damage or nuisance behavior, such as damage to bird feeders, beehives, and garbage containers, as well as consumption of pet food. An estimated 15 bears were involved in these cases.
Most of the 21 counties with bear sightings were in northeastern or southeastern Ohio. Trumbull County led the state, reporting 17
sightings. Ashtabula and Geauga counties followed with 12 and 10 sightings, respectively. Interestingly, there were no reported sightings of sows with cubs.
*
Outdoor Writers of Ohio's Jack Kiser is also host of "The Buckeye
Angler" television program on PBS.Address any comments, questions, and suggestions via E-mail to:
jack@buckeyeangler.com,
or visit his web site www.buckeyeangler.com.