“In many ways it was a big and audacious decision to decide, ‘We are going to purchase the preserve to reopen it to the public and put a campaign in place to continue to serve the community,’ ” he said. “This was ‘If we don’t do this, and we don’t succeed at this, Glen Helen no longer exists.’”
The 1,125-acre nature preserve in Yellow Springs, is the region’s largest and most visited privately-owned nature preserve and environmental learning facility. The preserve’s Raptor Center rehabilitates birds of prey that have been injured and releases them back into the wild, and allows visitors up-close educational interactions with the birds.
The $4.25 million campaign was launched in June 2020 to purchase the Glen, reopen the preserve after the pandemic, restart educational programs, and address the “most urgent” projects related to public safety and the ecological health of the preserve, Boutis said.
Much of this has been accomplished. The Association purchased Glen Helen in the fall of 2020, to the tune of $2.5 million paid over the course of 10 years.
$1.5 million of the $4.17 million raised goes toward the purchase, Boutis said, the rest coming from an endowment from the Dayton Foundation and financing.
The organization also restarted its summer kids’ programs in 2021 at reduced capacity, and has a full season this year. The pandemic closure was the only time that kids’ summer camps and activities hadn’t happened since 1956.
The association has also renovated its raptor classroom and rehabilitation center with regular open hours and family-friendly activities, and made the path and parking around the center ADA accessible.
“(The campaign) was more than to just buy the place,” Boutis said. “We would not be happy just getting back to where we were before the pandemic. There’s so much more that we can do, and improving accessibility is an example of that.”
The association also demolished the derelict Antioch College Power Plant, and begin habitat restoration.
Now, in the wake of the demolition, the spring underneath the power plant has begun flowing again, Boutis said, attracting all manner of fish, frogs and other wildlife.
Improvements are planned for parking, trails, and signage, as well as improved bridges and boardwalks throughout the preserve. Visitors are now able to survey a new beaver dam and pond from the vantage point of a new elevated boardwalk. The most significant of the new bridges will be an updated span across Birch Creek.
How to donate
Donations can be made at glenhelen.org/campaign or by mail, make checks out to Glen Helen Association and mail to Campaign to Secure the Future of Glen Helen, 405 Corry St, Yellow Springs, OH 45387.
The Association is recognizing donors of $1,000 or more with inscribed boardwalk planks on the bridge across the Yellow Springs Creek Dam.
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