Dike 14, formerly a confined disposal facility (CDF) for dredged river and harbor sediment, has naturally into a valuable environmental resource. Audubon, Ohio has recognized this naturalized as an Important Bird Area and has naturally become home to over 280 species of birds, numerous butterflies, 16 species of mammals (red fox, coyote, mink, deer) 2 species of reptiles, 26 Ohio plant species ( wildflowers, grasses) and 9 species of trees and shrubs.
From 1979 to 1999, Dike 14 was used by the US Army Corp of Engineers disposed of sediments dredged from the Cuyahoga River and Cleveland Harbor. The Dike was funded and constructed by the Corp and upon closure in 1999, the responsibility for managing the Dike (the Dike containment walls) was transferred to the Cleveland-Cuyahoga County Port Authority.
Since its closure, the 88-acre former dredge disposal site has become an extraordinary wildlife haven adjacent to Gordon State Park/Cleveland Lakefront State Park, at the northern end of Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard (Cleveland, Ohio). Over the years, Dike 14 has become know as the Dike 14 Nature Preserve and a local group of environmental organizations and institutions have established the Dike 14 Environmental Education Collaborative as a mechanism to provide learning opportunities by visiting the Dike.
The Collaborative membership includes environmental experts from the Cleveland Botanical Garden, the Cleveland Metroparks, the Cleveland Museum of Natural History, the Cuyahoga Soil & Water Conservation District, the Cuyahoga Valley National Park Association, the Earth Day Coalition, the Lake Erie & Nature Science Center, the Nature Center at Shaker Lakes, the Ohio Department of Natural Resources, the Ohio Lepidopterists and the Western Cuyahoga Audubon Society.
More information on Dike14 can be found at www.dike14.org.
