The American Eel Preserve (AEP) Is located within walking distance to the Village of Chancey adjacent to the confluence of Sunday Creek into the Hocking River. The 61 acre AEP is the River Commission’s (HRC) largest restoration project of farm land into riparian forest and HRC’s first restoration of a high bank on the Hocking River due to farming up to the bank. AEP was purchased using H2Ohio Funds in Fall of 2020. In the restoration process HRC planted over 500 trees and broadcast 400 lbs of native herbaceous seeds. The preserve was named for the American Eel. The American Eel has a very interesting life cycle starting in the Atlantic Ocean and migrating to freshwater streams in eastern North America including the Mississippi Basin. Over 10 to 25 years the eels mature then return to the Atlantic Ocean to reproduce.
