MARBLEHEAD, Ohio (AP) — Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine has dedicated the addition of 118 acres to a nature preserve to help protect more than 700,000 plants of the endangered Lakeside daisy species.
The Republican governor was joined by Ohio’s Department of Natural Resources director for Tuesday’s dedication at the Lakeside Daisy State Nature Preserve in Marblehead. State officials say the preserve is home to the only natural population of the plant left in Ohio.
The Lakeside daisy was listed as endangered in Ohio in 1980. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service listed it as federally threatened in 1988.
A U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service grant provided 75% of the more than $1 million cost of the additional land. The remainder came from Ohioans’ donations from their state income tax refunds to state nature preserves.