Orchard Hills Park Habitat
When Orchard Hills Golf Course ceased operations in January 2007, the Patterson Family worked with the Western Reserve Land Conservancy and Geauga Park District to place a conservation easement here. To restore the property to its former natural state – a mature beech-maple forest ecosystem with clean headwater streams and wetlands for the Chagrin River – the Park District has “jump started” natural recuperative ecosystems that support a vast array of native flora and fauna for the Chagrin River corridor.
Conservation projects include the restoration of 1,500 linear feet of stream, three acres of wetlands, 50 acres of forest and 22 acres of meadow. The restoration has helped protect and preserve stream corridors and reestablish more natural and healthy functioning streams, as well as improve water quality.
Reforestation of one former fairway per year began in 2010, and is expected to take at least 10 years to complete.