Big Island Wildlife Area

This 5,872-acre wildlife area is five miles west of Marion on State Route 95 and lies within a former wetland prairie, one of the larger prairies in Ohio at the time of settlement. Agricultural development of the area did not begin until the late 1800s, because of the poor drainage. The purchase of the land for this wildlife area began in 1958. A 382-acre marsh, constructed in 1971, is flooded in the fall by water pumped from the Scioto River. Since 1996 nearly 3,800 additional acres were purchased to enlarge the wildlife area. The principal small game species are the cottage rabbit, mourning dove, and ring-necked pheasant. Waterfowl and woodcock are important migratory game birds. Hunting for deer, fox squirrels, and wild turkey is also popular. Nongame bird species frequently observed in the wetland and grassland areas include bitterns, Northern harriers, bobolink, upland sandpipers, herons, grebes, numerous shorebirds, bald eagles, and trumpeter swans.