· Restore the property’s natural wetland habitats (seasonally wet meadows, forested wetlands)
· Demonstrate the effectiveness of rain gardens and bio-swales as effective storm water best management practices
· Provide valuable recreational and educational opportunities for visitors.

Shor Park is the newest park within CCPD, dedicated in October 2010 by Sylvia Shor (the park is named in honor of S. David Shor).  The park is 53 acres in total area and is located in an urbanized area within the headwaters of Salt Run, a tributary of the East Fork Little Miami River.  Prior to the donation to CCPD, the fields were fallow for two years after being planted with corn and soybeans for several years.  The land had since become infested with non-native, invasive species, such as Callery Pear (Pyrus calleryana), Autumn Olive (Elaeagnus umbellate), Bush Honeysuckle (Lonicera spp.) and others.  Based on the soils and lay of the land, the fields are best suited for wetland habitat and prairie.

With funding provided by Ohio EPA’s Surface Water Improvement Fund, CCPD restored areas of forested wetland, emergent wetland, and wet prairie or meadow habitats. The wetlands at Shor Park are seasonally wet, having surface water typically in the winter and spring, and drying out during the summer and fall. All of these wetland types provide enormous benefits to the surrounding community because they help improve water quality in local streams by trapping and filtering stormwater runoff. Wetlands are often referred to as natural sponges of the land because they trap and slowly release surface water over time, which helps to manage local flooding and erosion.  Wet prairies and wooded wetlands also provide critical habitat (including vernal pools) for wildlife including, birds, butterflies, frogs, toads, salamanders,  among others.  The restoration of these sites involved some subtle modifications to the land to improve hydrology and drainage, the removal of the invasive species, as well as the planting of native plants and shrubs. The Shor Park project also featured watershed friendly landscaping, including the creation of  a rain garden and two bio-swales designed to manage stormwater runoff from surrounding impervious areas.