West County Park

West County Park. . , West County Park is one of five Monroe County Parks. This park focuses on providing natural habitat, not only for plants and wildlife, but for the enjoyment of visitors. With its trails, scenic views, and natural landscape which changes from season to season, the park user is encouraged to hike, explore and enjoy being in natural surroundings., Ecological Management , Managers of natural areas play an active role in maintaining the health and diversity of native plant communities. Controlled ecological burns by trained personnel are used to maintain the open prairie areas, otherwise trees and shrubs could eventually take over. Invasive plants which do not naturally occur in this area can become established and crowd out the more appropriate native mix of plants, so there is a constant need to remove plants like the honeysuckle, buckthorn, autumn olive and other exotic invasive species., Monroe County's Native Landscapes , In the days before this area became settled with towns, farms, and roads, there was a diverse mosaic of different types of natural landscapes. Large marshes on Lake Erie, dense lowland forests in the floodplains and valleys, and upland forests of maple, beech, oak and hickory on the drier sites. Vast prairies and savannas, which are now quite rare, occupied thousands of acres before they were converted to farmland and other uses. West County Park exists in part to remind us of what this land was like hundreds of years ago., Ecological Restoration , Not long ago, the land where this park sits was all farm field. Beginning in 2002, efforts began to restore the property to the types of habitats which naturally occur in this area. Grasses and wildflowers were seeded in, and hundreds of seedling trees and shrubs were planted. And once the natural habitat began to be restored, the diverse animal life that makes these areas home also began to return.