Morehead man travels the world building wetlands

(WKYT) – On Round Hill Farm in Oldham County, Wildlife Biologist and Wetland Ecologist Tom Biebighauser leads us on a walk past fields of wildflowers and native plants.

He wants to show us a natural wetland area.

Biebighauser, who lives in Morehead, travels the world to restore and build wetlands. He describes a wetland as a place with shallow water, knee-high or less, that is home to many plants and wildlife.

“Wetlands have shallow water during part of the growing season, and wetlands have all these aquatic plants. So, in looking at these wetland areas that have been built that are less than one year old on the Round Hill Farm, they have hydric plants, all these sedges and bulrushes and flowering plants.”

Biebighauser says urban development and agriculture have destroyed most wetlands in the United States. He says it’s rare to find a private landowner who wants to restore wetlands and build new ones. That’s why Round Hill Farm is one of his favorite places where the owner, Dace Brown, has dedicated the land to helping the environment and attracting wildlife.

Biebighauser says that makes Round Hill Farm a special place.

“I’d like to take you on an adventure to see one of the most unique wetlands in Kentucky. It’s called a vernal pond, otherwise known as an ephemeral wetland. And we’re going to take a look at this wetland and see how it compares. This is a natural wetland which is quite special.”

Farm owner Dace Brown was unable to be with us for the farm tour, but her son, Hawkins, joined us. He’s grown up on the farm and pointed out some of the wildlife attracted to the wetlands.

“Normally, when I’m coming out here, I’m looking for it. Kind of it almost looks like a little stick poking out of the water. Pokes out of the water about that far. It’s a turtlehead. I’ve been spotting those my whole life. I would swim and catch them when I was younger. I mean, you’re not gonna be able to see it, but I can see two right there.”

Biebighauser says some of the wildlife on the farm is rare.

“Now what was really exciting this year, I received a photograph from Dace Brown of our Roseate Spoonbill and one of the rarest bird observations ever in Kentucky. And the Spoonbill was using the new wetlands that we had restored here on the on the Round Hill Farm, and the Rosette Spoonbill, that’s a bird that you find in Florida. And this was a juvenile bird, and it was spotted in the Louisville area. But it really did hang out quite a while here on the new wetland areas, which meant it was finding plenty of food to eat, which is really exciting.”

The wildlife biologist says wetlands provide many benefits including flood control.

“The weather patterns have been changing, and Kentucky is getting frequent and heavier rainfall, and flooding is becoming more of a concern, and that’s why communities are looking at restoring wetland areas so they can help reduce the flooding. And how does it do that? Well, wetlands act like a giant sponge. So, when it rains and rains hard, and there’s runoff, the wetlands will capture that water, hold it, and allow it to soak into the ground instead of rushing downstream and causing flooding to people who live further down in the valley.”

Wetlands also act as a natural insect control for mosquitos.

“During the day, we have swallows and Purple Martins flying around eating the adult mosquitoes. At night, there’s all sorts of bats out here, and the bats are eating the adult mosquitoes. So, with all these mosquito predators in here, we do not have a mosquito problem. When we first started building these wetlands, the neighbors were concerned about mosquitoes. We explained to them, with all the life that will be in these wetlands, in fact, this will be a sink for mosquitoes. What do we say about a healthy wetland? Mosquitoes may check-in, but they won’t check out.”

On top of a hill at the farm, the sounds of nature are drowned out by heavy construction equipment.

John Utterback is on a tractor pulling a large roller that compacts the dirt. Utterback says he’s spent 70 hours on the project to build a new wetland on the hill.

“This was just a field here. Had a convex to it, and we’re changing it to a concave, a saucer pool, so to speak, to hold approximately 10 to 12- inches of water when it’s done.”

Biebighauser says he’s worked with Utterback on many wetland projects.

“Utterback is really concerned about his work, very conscientious. He wants to do the best job possible. He does everything he can to have these wetlands turn out the way that we want them to turn out. So, if we’re trying to build for a specific animal or a group of plants, he’s really interested in how to build the wetland and how we want it to look when it’s done. He and I have built wetland areas in New York, and I think we went 29 days without a day off, close to 12 hours a day. He really works, and he builds the best wetlands I know of.”

Biebighauser started his career as a Wildlife Biologist with the US Forest Service, first in Minnesota and later in the Daniel Boone National Forest. He’s been working on wetland projects since 1979. He leads workshops on wetlands and has written several books on restoring and building them.

His website is www.wetlandrestorationandtraining.com.

His passion for wetlands brings him great joy, especially at places like Round Hill Farm.

“Do you feel like you’ve gone to heaven when you come to this place? This is very close to it. Yes, yes. In fact, sometimes I wonder if I am in heaven because I get to build wetland areas.”

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