Letting the River Be a River: Restoration Moves Forward at Buttonwood Park

The Maumee River has influenced northwest Ohio for generations. Its floodplains once spread out during high water, slowing floods, filtering runoff, and providing important wildlife habitat. Over time, many of these natural systems were changed for farming, development, and recreation. Even so, the river often reclaims the land we tried to alter. At Buttonwood Park / Betty C. Black Recreation Area in Perrysburg Township, the river showed its natural patterns twice through major floods.

In 2014 and again in 2018, just four years apart, severe ice-jam floods swept through the park, destroying park infrastructure each time, including the community soccer fields and campground. While the damage was significant, these events also showed something important: this part of the park is best left as it once was — a functioning wetland.

Instead of replacing the soccer fields with more soccer fields, the Wood County Park District and Black Swamp Conservancy are supporting this reality and working with nature to create a park that serves its vital role as a floodplain. To that end, we are pleased to announce that Biohabitats has been selected as the restoration partner for the Buttonwood Floodplain Restoration Project, funded by the H2Ohio Wetland Program.

The project will restore approximately nine acres of former recreational land to functioning wetland and floodplain habitat. The restoration area, located in the southern portion of the park where the soccer fields and campground once stood, will be designed as a diverse landscape of wetlands, sedge meadows, and native upland habitats.

The project’s goal is simple: restore natural habitat and features to help the site store and manage floodwaters, while also providing important environmental benefits.

The restoration team will use water from an existing ditch system and reshape the land to create small changes in elevation, called microtopography. These low spots and gentle rises will hold and move water across the site, making good conditions for native wetland plants and wildlife. In time, the restored floodplain will capture and filter nutrient runoff before it reaches the Maumee River, thereby improving water quality and providing habitat for birds, pollinators, amphibians, and many other species.

This project showcases that some of our best flood protection comes from nature itself. Wetlands and floodplains can store water, reduce flooding, improve water quality, and support many kinds of plants and animals, all while adjusting to changes over time.

Biohabitats has decades of experience in ecological restoration and nature-based design. That knowledge will help ensure the restoration meets today’s goals and continues to provide benefits for future generations.

For Black Swamp Conservancy and the Wood County Park District, this effort is more than simply a habitat restoration project. It is an investment in the health of the Maumee River watershed and shows how communities can respond to repeated flooding by restoring the natural systems that have long protected both people and wildlife.

In many ways, the future of Buttonwood Park is connected to its past. By restoring the floodplain, the project will give the river more space, creating a landscape better prepared for future floods while fostering clean water, wildlife habitat, and chances for people to experience nature.

As restoration planning continues, we look forward to sharing updates on the changes underway at this special place along the Maumee River.