The balance of protecting natural lands while having them accessible to the public is extremely delicate. Even governmental agencies such as the National Park Service and the U.S. Forest Service struggle to find this balance, with parks and natural areas being too remote to be easily accessible or having so many visitors that the health of the ecosystem is put at stake.
In Athens County, however, one organization has managed to find the balance needed to make these natural ecosystems healthy and accessible.
The Athens Conservancy is a nonprofit land trust. According to its website, the organization aims to preserve “wild and scenic places for people to explore and enjoy, protect water quality and maintain healthy, resilient ecosystems that support native biodiversity and help counteract the cause of climate change.” On Oct. 2, the Athens Conservancy released a year-end recap summarizing their accomplishments over the past year.
In April, the Conservancy acquired a 71-acre property just east of Chauncey. The Lindy Roosenburg Preserve, or simply Lindy’s Preserve, expanded the total number of preserves under the domain of the Conservancy to 14.
Lindy Roosenburg, the preserve’s namesake, was a local to the Athens area who was studying forestry at Ohio State University. In March of 2021, she passed away due to a UTV rollover crash. Her parents set up the Selinde Roosenburg Memorial Fund to purchase natural spaces that Roosenburg had a deep love for. With help from the fund, the preserve was purchased by the Conservancy.
“They just felt it was such a beautiful place,” said Victoria Ellwood, development director for the Conservancy. “Lindy would have really loved it and because she grew up just exploring the woods, they just felt that she would have loved the high ridgetop that overlooks the land and the towering trees.”
While Lindy’s Preserve was incorporated in April, in early October, the preserve was inducted into the Old Growth Forest Network. This designation was the 30th in Ohio, which is the state with the most preserves in the country.
“It's really an honor to be designated,” said Ellwood.
The Conservancy also announced that a parking area has been built at the Deep Hollow-Dark Skies Preserve. The preserve is located about 13 miles southeast of Athens and aims to be one of the closest dark-sky areas near both Athens and Parkersburg. Ellwood is excited about the opportunity Athens residents will have to stargaze.
“It's hard to find an area with not very much light pollution,” said Ellwood. “It seems to be really good for stargazing with very minimal light pollution, and it's not very far from Athens or Parkersburg. So even students can get to it pretty easily.”
Viewing sites are planned to be established within the coming months for the public to come and utilize the dark sky area.
Additionally, a significant donation was made by an unnamed group to the Conservancy's Healthy Forest Fund, which helped expand the group’s work to remove invasive plants and maintain foot trails.
“As climate changes, we're seeing more and more invasive plants,” said Ellwood. “If we don't continue to work constantly to remove invasive, non-native plants, they'll take over, and they'll crowd out the native plants that provide the food and shelter and habitat for wildlife.”
The final page of the yearly recap detailed a donation of mineral rights for around 10,000 acres of land. The mining rights for around 8,900 of those acres are now under the sole control of the Conservancy, meaning no mining can take place on that land.
The other 1,100 acres are under a mining lease until 2033. In the future, the Conservancy will receive royalties from that operation, which they plan to give back to the community.
“We're working out a plan of what would be the best way to reinvest it that would help the community surrounding that particular area of Athens County,” said Ellwood.
In addition to being focused on activism, the Conservancy hosts a variety of recreational events that are available on its website. Ellwood encouraged young people around Athens to explore the preserves and natural areas near them.
“We have a hiking tips feature because there's a lot of people who come to OU from various parts of Ohio who might not be familiar with this part of Ohio,” she said.
Looking forward, it seems the Athens Conservancy is excited for a future of activism, perseverance and showcasing all the beautiful nature Athens County has to offer.
