Construction has begun in the mitigation project at the Bog Walk at Presque Isle Park. Wetlands are being created to mitigate those being destroyed in the U.S. 41 Reconstruction Project. (Journal photo by Christie Bleck)

MARQUETTE — The Bog Walk at Presque Isle Park is undergoing mitigation work related to the U.S. 41 reconstruction project.

Bacco Construction, based in Iron Mountain, has begun work on the creation of wetlands for the project mitigation.

This stage of the work will involve re-creating a wetlands environment adjacent to the area created years ago for the McClellan Avenue extension project.

In 2011, the Michigan Department of Environmental Quality issued a Water Resources Division permit that provided for the filling of 1.11 acres of wetlands associated with the McClellan extension, which ran McClellan down from Fair Avenue north to Wright Street.

The permit required the restoration of .23 acre of on-site wetlands and the restoration of 2.05 acres of off-site wetlands at Presque Isle.

The new mitigation area will be north and south of the Bog Walk trail. The trail that comes directly off the parking lot area into the Bog Walk will be closed during the mitigation project.

It’s anticipated this part of the project will take three weeks to complete.

About .41 acre adjacent to Whetstone Brook, which includes emergent and forested wetlands, is being destroyed in the reconstruction of U.S. 41, which stemmed from the building of the new UP Health System-Marquette hospital.

On April 24, the DEQ issued a permit authorizing activity associated with transportation improvements along U.S. 41 related to the new hospital.

Construction drawings can be accessed at the city of Marquette website under the Hospital Transportation Improvements link at www.marquettemi.gov.

The permit also authorized placing fill in wetlands, and as part of the permit requirements, a wetland mitigation area had to be constructed.

Marquette City Engineer Keith Whittington said .8 acre will be created at the Bog Walk to mitigate those lost wetlands.

Public input, he said, was solicited during the environmental assessment process.

The wetland mitigation plan for the Bog Walk project calls for excavating and removing artificial fill and restoring contours to create diverse microhabitats, further restoring the area with native herbaceous and woody species, establishing monitoring and adaptive management plans for restored wetlands, and creating a permanent conservation easement to protect the restored wetlands.

Potential species to be planted include tamarack, black spruce, black willow, silky dogwood, highbush cranberry, water plantain, fringed sedge, blue flag iris, great blue lobelia, blue vervain, Canada anemone and grass-leaved goldenrod.

It was stated in the plan that Presque Isle Park is a tombolo, a geomorphological feature in which an island is attached to the mainland by a narrow spit of land. With the probable exception of beach ridges, most of this spit was once wetland.

The area was gradually filled a long time ago with materials like rock, concrete, metal and soil. However, the land still attracts birds and other wildlife with its remnant wetlands, and is heavily used by mammals and various species of reptiles and amphibians.

In fact, its potential for high-quality wildlife habitat was the reason the area has long been targeted for restoration.

The restored wetlands, according to the plan, will provide groundwater recharge and filtration of runoff before it reaches Lake Superior. The wetlands also are expected to offer more food and cover for wildlife due to multiple vegetative strata and the presence of water, and provide stopover and breeding habitat for birds.

It was noted in the plan that the restoration area, since it’s contiguous to a protected natural area to the east — Presque Isle Park — magnifies the value of the land.

The main water source for the project will be groundwater connected to lake levels of Lake Superior, with the goal being a forested wetland containing a variety of plant species adapted to a varying “water regime” as opposed to a permanent body of water.

Three habitat structures will be evenly distributed at the wetland mitigation sites: a tree stump, a log and a whole tree, each to be laid horizontally.

Monitoring inspections will be conducted from June 15 to Aug. 31 each year for five years, with reports documenting the progress of the wetland mitigation areas sent to the DEQ.

If the areas fail to establish and support the appropriate wetland vegetation after three years, additional plantings will be conducted. Invasive plants also will be controlled using mechanical and/or chemical means after consulting with the DEQ.

Whittington said the project’s cost is approximately $42,000, and is part of the hospital’s brownfield redevelopment plan.

Christie Bleck can be reached at 906-228-2500, ext. 250. Her email address is cbleck@miningjournal.net.