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80,000-acre forest goal of Ohio conservancy group

The Nature Conservancy has announced a 10 year,
$12 million plan to create the largest continuous parcel of conserved forest land in Ohio's history by connecting a private 14,000-acre nature preserve with the 63,000-acre Shawnees State Forest. Appalachian Forest project manager Peter Whan stands next to a white oak tree that marks a family cemetery along the Sunshine Corridor.

Ty Greenlees/Staff Photographer The Nature Conservancy has announced a 10 year, $12 million plan to create the largest continuous parcel of conserved forest land in Ohio's history by connecting a private 14,000-acre nature preserve with the 63,000-acre Shawnees State Forest. Appalachian Forest project manager Peter Whan stands next to a white oak tree that marks a family cemetery along the Sunshine Corridor.

ENLARGE PHOTO

Map of the area in Adams County where a conservation group is aiming to knit together two forested areas to created a continuous 80,000 acre swath of forest.

ENLARGE PHOTO

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By Steve Bennish, Staff Writer Updated 6:31 PM Saturday, October 10, 2009

MOON HOLLOW, Adams County — An 80,000-acre swath of territory that within a decade could become the state’s largest continuous parcel of conserved forestland would be an important milestone for southwest Ohio, conservation land managers say.

“These larger ecosystems are healthier and more diverse,” said Charlie Shoemaker, executive director of Five Rivers MetroParks. “It strengthens the entire region to have something of that significance and that expansive.”

The Nature Conservancy, a worldwide conservation group active in the area since 1959, plans to knit together a 14,000-acre nature preserve it operates with the Cincinnati Museum Center with the 63,000-acre Shawnee State Forest.

The Conservancy said it plans to spend up to $12 million to buy 5,881 acres from sellers along the Sunshine Corridor — named for the ridge linking the gap between the conserved areas.

The Corridor, in the watershed of the Scioto Brush Creek with its large population of endangered fresh water mussels, includes oak stands rising from ridge tops, shrubby deciduous woods, and vegetated ravines.

It’s in a unique Ohio River landscape of tobacco barns erected from dismantled pioneer flatboats, old homesteads, historic hillside cemeteries and rare prairies that have drawn naturalists for generations.

An atmosphere of romance and folklore hangs thickly in this region like morning river fog. Bends in the road bear names such as Tulip Town, Cave Hollow and Reel Ridge.

Spearheaded by naturalist Peter Whan, the plan would preserve a remnant of the Appalachian forest and create what conservationists call a landscape-size parcel two hours from Dayton.

It would be capable of supporting breeding populations of wildlife rare in Ohio, including imperiled birds such as the Acadian Flycatcher, Kentucky Warbler and Scarlet Tanager.

Wild turkey and other game species are abundant. There are more than 100 rare plants and animals, including black bear and bobcats.

Stretches of the statewide Buckeye Trail and the planned national North Country Scenic Trail follow Sunshine Ridge.

Satellite view shows fragmented forest

A satellite’s view of Ohio’s national and state forestlands reveals a fragmented patchwork where the latest data show that 88 percent of forest land is privately owned.

Ohio’s conservation history has been an unusual one, too. Although the state is known for having wiped out, at one time or another, nearly all its native wildlife, including whitetail deer in the early 20th century, many species have returned after savvy reintroduction efforts.

Recent years have chalked up success for river otters and beavers, for example. Both need room to roam to maintain healthy populations and breeding stock. Isolated islands don’t do the trick.

“Forest fragmentation is the biggest threat to Ohio’s forest. Nearly everything people value about the forest — biodiversity, timber production, clean air and water — are threatened and diminished when forests are broken up,” said David Lytle, chief of the Ohio Division of Forestry.

Private conservation efforts in a time of tight state budgets are a welcome development, he noted. The issue is “bigger than any single person or agency can wrap their efforts around. These efforts are essential.”

Tourism a big draw

Tom Cross, outdoor writer and Adams County Travel & Visitors Bureau director and author of the definitive guide to fishing Ohio lakes, said the plan represents a significant advance for the region, already a tourism draw because of the Serpent Mound Native American earthworks.

“Our tourism is enhanced by having these places,” Cross said. The Appalachia Preserve System is already the largest privately protected natural area in the state.

Pioneering ecologist E. Lucy Braun, a University of Cincinnati teacher and author of key works on North American forestry, is credited with calling attention to the area in the 1920s.

The Cincinnati Museum Center this year built a $1.8 million research and conference center overlooking the preserve, which opens up select areas to hunting and has 2,500 acres available. No wolves or cougars are known to roam Adams County, so hunters are a key check on a robust deer herd.

More acreage would open up to hunting as the preserve expands, said Whan, the Conservancy’s point man for the project.

“Our hope is to bring economic value to the county with tourism and hunting dollars,” he said.

Contact this reporter at (937) 225-7407 or sbennish @DaytonDailyNews.com.

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