Jan. 10, 2012 — Normally the do-it-yourself, or DIY, trend applies to homeowners who want toremodel or spruce up the place, but suppose you could DIY a natural wetland that would serve as a sanctuary for flora and fauna and be a help to the environment?

That’s what Tom Biebighauser wants people to do, and he’s written a well-illustrated and easy-to-comprehend book to help people get started.

“It’s a cookbook,” said the quite congenial wildlife biologist of his third book, "Wetland Restoration and Construction: a Technical Guide.”

On an unseasonably warm last Friday, Biebighauser waded through two small wetlands constructed at McBrayer Elementary and explained how the colorful, 186-page technical guide can help DIYers make their contributions.

For most of us, Biebighauser’s passion mostly prompts questions, namely, what’s a wetland?

    “Wetlands are areas containing shallow water on or near the surface of the ground during all or part of the year, plants that are adapted to living in water or on wet ground and soil that is saturated or poorly drained for portions of the year,” he wrote in the technical guide.

    Oh-kay.

    “They’re knee-deep, knee-deep,” the biologist quipped.

Ah.

Such wit is interspersed throughout the guide, in which Biebighauser asserts that anyone, including the novice, can learn how to build and maintain a wetland. Step-by-step tips on wetland construction and restoration, diagrams, definitions and plenty of photographs coax readers through the pages and have the effect of inspiring a certain can-do spirit for any would-be wetland constructionist. 

But why would anyone want to build a wetland in the first place? Isn’t that nature’s job, and furthermore, aren’t there enough natural ones without having to construct them?

“Not enough people build wetlands,” Biebighauser said.

“They help plants and wildlife, and if you really want to observe animals in a natural setting, wetlands are the best.”

The how-to manual also features diagrams, suggestions, important things to consider and steps to take in creating a viable wetland.

Biebighauser waded through the two McBrayer wetlands, scooping tadpoles and narrating stories about how cattails, bulrushes and marshmallows are essential elements of a sustainable wetland.

He spoke with affection about the more than 1,000 wetlands that he’s helped build over 20 years as a wildlife biologist.

McBrayer Elementary has not one but two small wetlands, one emergent, which holds water all year, and another ephemeral, which dries up in seasons. Both were  constructed in one day on the strength of an impressive array of volunteers.

“Caudill Escavating came in with the equipment to dig them,” said Biebighauser.

Students and staff at the school, Morehead State, East Kentucky PRIDE and other volunteers spent a day seven years ago constructing the project.

So, is it difficult to create a wetland, even a small one?

“It was very hard,” admitted Carole Neeper, fourth grade teacher at McBrayer Elementary.

Even with earth moving equipment and labor donated by Caudill Excavating, it was an effort.

“I remember a front-end loader and a lot of shovels and making sure logs were in the right places for certain organisms to grow. The year we made it was a draught year so it didn’t fill up, but it was a great teaching tool for that as well,” Neeper said.

Was it worth it?

“It’s a great teaching tool. We used it for a grant in which five teachers and our classes collected data in the wetland. We measured how many organisms were in the pond and kept records of flora and fauna you’d see around a wetland,” the teacher said.

 “We use it as a start to writing. When the kids need an impetus to write we will take them out there. We use it as a reward too eating lunch outside. They love it,” she added.

    Neeper said the wetlands are fairly self-maintaining, requiring only an occasional trimming of grasses.

Well, what about mosquitos? 

    “You would expect to have mosquitos, but when you have the right plants and organisms in the wetland you don’t,” she said.

    Biebighauser said the thought of mosquitos shouldn’t deter the would-be wetlands maker and spoke almost fondly of organisms within the wetland that naturally solve the problem.

    A good wetland has salamanders and other animals that eat mosquitos.  It can also have cattails, upon which dragonflies lay their eggs, and the larvae then consume mosquitos. McBrayer, Tilden Hogge and Clearfield Elementary Schools and the high school all have constructed wetlands, and Biebighauser said the new middle school is a likely candidate for the next ones.

    “Building at schools is not easy. Socially, this goes against tradition for the last 100 years, but many are now embracing outdoors education,” he said. 

Building or restoring wetlands in general is not easy either. 

“Many fail because they don’t hold water, but we have developed techniques that make the process easier and

He said wetland construction and restoration need not be an expensive endeavor.  While a large scale wetland, like the 70-acre one he helped create in the Wayne National Forrest in Ohio, could be costly, the average citizen can build one in their backyard or on the farm for a few hundred dollars. It’s an investment, Biebighauser said, in the environment.

Apparently, other environmental DIY-ers have taken an interest in Biebighauser’s work.

“Copies of the book have been shipped to every state in the nation and also to Germany, Japan, Australia and Taiwan,” he said.

Citizens here at home need only travel to CoffeeTree Books or the Kentucky Folk Art Center where the guide can be purchased for $22.95, or go to www.thewetlandtrust.org/wetlandrestoration.

For more information on Biebighauser’s efforts locally go to www.wetlandsandstreamrestoration.org.



Noelle Hunter can be reached at nhunter@themoreheadnews.com or by telephone at 784-4116.