The Catawba Peninsula has experienced a lot of new developments in recent years, but it still offers the solitude of such areas as the Nehls Nature Preserve, where Norma Nehls cut a ribbon a couple of years ago to dedicate the pristine area honoring her late husband, Robert “Doc” Nehls, a beloved veterinarian.

BY D’ARCY PATRICK EGAN

Realtor Nancy Dunlap has spent much of her life on the Catawba Peninsula. Her specialty for many years for Century 21-Bolte Real Estate has been finding the more affordable properties along Lake Erie for families eager to find a summer home or a year-round property along the shoreline of Lake Erie.

Becoming a licensed realtor in 1979, she is still doing that today. To connect with her email nancy@nancydunlap.com or call 419-341-0043.

“There are many people who come and discover this wonderful area and decide they want to live here,” she said. “People visit and soon realize they want a permanent taste of Lake Erie, and all it has to offer,”

Dunlap knows the nooks and crannies of the Catawba Peninsula, and while expensive developments have dominated the landscape in recent years, Dunlap has successfully marketed the cottages, smaller homes and subdivions.

“Everything has grown so much in the area, and that includes some very expensive houses,” said Dunlap. “It can be hard for a family to find a reasonably-priced summer home or year-round place to live.”

As a board member of the Ottawa National Wildlife Refuge, Dunlap also wants to protect the marshes and wild places along the Lake Erie shoreline. A few years ago she handled the sale of a property owned by the late Robert “Doc” Nehls and his wife, Norma, along the West Harbor waters at the base of the Catawba Peninsula, a 40-acre property which was transformed into the Nehls Nature Preserve.

“It’s now a preserve that offers protection for wildlife and habitat and allows public recreation. The property provides excellent opportunities to view migratory and resident bird species. A walking trail, that winds through a restored pollinator meadow and along the water’s edge, it is open to the public from dawn to dusk,” said Dunlap.

A lot of people who have purchased a home in the area, said Dunlap, find that they feel at home on the peninsula. Dunlap’s family grew up fishing on Lake Erie and hunting the area, and the few times they left, it soon lured them right back.

“The area has a little bit of everything, from the Miller Ferry to the Lake Erie Islands just a few minutes way, an awakening City of Port Clinton and nearby Cedar Point. And it also has bits of solitude offered by the marshes and wildlife areas. The great fishing had attracted anglers from around the country decades, and the walleye, perch and smallmouth bass fishing on Lake Erie has even gotten much better in recent years.”

People want to leave the big cities behind and enjoy the fishing, boating and quietness of the wild places, such as the Magee Marsh Area, a focus of the Greatest Week in American Birding in early May.

“We still have those things, but we also have to be good shepherds of our area.”