Elaine Marsh at the Gorge Dam
Elaine Marsh has spent her life as a champion of the waterways of the Great Lakes region, focusing her entire career on raising awareness of the water quality of wetlands, lakes, streams and rivers in Northeast Ohio — especially the Cuyahoga River (the Cuyahoga).
In the early days, Elaine was mostly alone. Growing up along the Cuyahoga, she saw a waterway contaminated with industrial chemicals, sewage overflow, sludge and trash. Following its fire in 1969, many simply regarded the Cuyahoga as dead. But where most saw a lost cause, Elaine saw a sick friend asking for help.
Elaine has worked tirelessly over the past 40 years to remove barriers to improving water quality and restoring the Cuyahoga and its habitat. In 1972, a revision and expansion of the Clean Water Act greatly diminished the chemical contamination of the river, but Elaine knew there was still important work to be done.
Elaine participates in a clean-up in June 1984 with the Sierra Club at the Ira beaver marsh, putting the trash they collect in their canoes as they paddle through the ponds.
As conservation chairwoman of the Portage Trail Group of the Sierra Club (1983), Elaine helped establish what is now Cascade Valley Metro Park. Not only did she and the group advocate for this river-centric Metro Park, they also used machetes and shovels to construct its first trail themselves.
Elaine with Friends of the Crooked River board members.
In 1990, Elaine co-founded Friends of the Crooked River — an environmental group that educates the public on the value of a clean Cuyahoga River. Elaine hosted 26 annual River Day events, generating respect for the river through cleanup, education and activities.
Creating plans to eliminate dams along the Cuyahoga to restore its health is where Elaine shines as a true conservationist. By garnering congressional support and working with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), Ohio EPA and the Great Lakes Restoration Initiative, Elaine has been instrumental in one dam modification and four dam removals. That number will increase with the upcoming removal of the Gorge Dam — a project that will allow the Cuyahoga to flow freely for the majority of its 100 miles, resulting in cleaner water flowing to the Great Lakes region.
Elaine currently serves as a watershed specialist for Summit Metro Parks, where she continues advocating for clean water, air and land. She serves on many boards, advisory committees and community projects and has received numerous local, regional and national accolades.
Elaine compares the dramatic impact that conservation efforts have had on the Cuyahoga River as she poses by a freed section of rapids in June 2019. Photo by Phil Masturzo / Akron Beacon Journal
Former Akron Beacon Journal Reporter Bob Downing once referred to Elaine as the “Mouth of the Cuyahoga,” and the name has stuck ever since. While it’s unclear if Elaine likes this moniker, it is spoken with reverence, gratitude and love for her and her work and dedication to conservation. The residents of Ohio are fortunate to have such a dedicated and determined person like Elaine advocating for a better environment. Elaine has been ambitiously fighting this battle for 40 years — and she is winning.
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For more stories like this, check out Green Islands magazine, a bi-monthly publication from Summit Metro Parks. Summit County residents can sign up to receive the publication at home free of charge.