At the Licks

WPC Ecologist Robert Coxe has put together a series exploring the life, history and future of watersheds in Lawrence County. Today, Robert explores the Mahoning River, which is the last in a series of six reports.

The Mahoning River begins its journey to the Beaver River southeast of Alliance, Ohio. Most of its journey is in Ohio with about 12 miles in Pennsylvania before reaching the Shenango River to form the Beaver River. The word “Mahoning” is a Delaware word meaning “at the licks” in reference to the numerous salt licks that lured the first settlers to the area. Today the river suffers from years of heavy industry pollution in the Youngstown, Ohio area. Though most of the industrial complexes are now gone, the accumulated sediments remain on the bottom of the river, making the bottom essentially devoid of life. Some of these same pollutants flowed into the Beaver River as well.

However, the Mahoning River valley includes floodplains, islands and other noteable riverside habitats. The valley harbors three Natural Heritage Areas recognized in the Lawrence County Natural Heritage Inventory. These include:

• The Edinburg Swamp Biological Diversity Area (BDA)
• Soap City Slopes BDA
• Quaker Falls BDA

All of these areas recognize notable natural communities near the river. Tomorrow's Destination Thursday will feature the Stavich Trail which is located in the Mahoning Valley. Pictured today is an aerial photograph of the Mahoning River just downstream of Edinburg, Pa.

Photo by WPC Ecologist Robert Coxe. Thoughout his Lawrence County series, we have received requests to see a photo of Robert. To his growing fanbase, we comply below. The photo shows Robert (left, in white hat) leading a wildflower walk at Raccoon Creek State Park. Photo by Paul Wiegman.

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