When the Seaside School District and Seaside Kids Inc. set out to build a baseball field along Wahanna Road in 1991, they ran into one of the challenges of building anything in the low-lying areas of Seaside: the need to mitigate for wetlands. North Coast Land Conservancy was able to help make the project happen in a way that balanced the needs of the community with the needs of the natural landscape. NCLC helped to create a mitigation design for the site that included an esturine and freshwater wetland enhancement, and the ultimate conservation of 5.74 acres along the west side of Wahanna Road along Neawanna Creek.
The conserved land is one of the largest high marsh habitats left in the Necanicum estuary, and its donation to NCLC as part of the mitigation process resulted in NCLC’s very first property acquisition. Wahanna Marsh has served as an anchor point in the Neawanna Creek system as NCLC’s conservation of wetland habitat in the Necanicum Estuary has grown to over 400 acres, allowing the possibility for Seaside’s new Necanicum Estuary Natural History Park to unfold.
Conservation Initiatives: Necanicum Wildlife Corridor, Coastal Estuaries
