ArcaMax

When you think of the people who protect forests, loggers don't usually come to mind, but the Dale and Jackie Riddle State Nature Preserve in Athens, Ohio, is named for the founder of Dale Riddle Forest Products of Laurelville. To get the story, my husband and I hiked the preserve with Phil Cantino, who is a botanist and one of Athens Conservancy's founding members.

Phil and his wife, Heather, had first stumbled on these woods by accident in spring 1982. Somehow during their hike they'd veered from the trail and gotten turned around. They'd thought they were headed into Sells Park, but instead found themselves in a grove of impressive tulip poplar trees with a carpet of spring ephemerals.

When we hiked with Phil, we started at Sells Park and headed straight up an incline that would keep any hiker's lungs and thighs strong. Then, we detoured off trail and stepped into the woods through the underbrush like a scene from "The Secret Garden." The hike took us back down a steep incline in a way that made it easy to understand how Phil and Heather thought they were descending back toward the city all those years ago. Hawk Woods dips between the ridges with large old-growth oaks and tulip poplar trees. It isn't a virgin forest but a mature second-growth forest with plentiful paw paw trees in the understory.

After his initial discovery, Phil returned to this spot again and again. Many of the other woodlands in southeastern Ohio had been repeatedly cut for timber, so he wanted to get to know this forest trek better.

Phil went to the courthouse and learned that Helen Hawk owned the land. He walked the woods with Helen and pointed out what he appreciated about her property. Hiking in the woods is fun for many reasons, but doing so with a botanist is a particular kind of joy. I learned this on my own walk with Phil. He didn't just point out trees of note but also ginger and ginseng plants as well as an orchid called rattlesnake plantain.

Helen gave Phil permission to continue hiking in her woods, and it became known as Hawk Woods both colloquially and in scientific literature. The Nature Conservancy, a national conservation organization, took notice and in 1988 offered to buy the land. Helen declined; however, she did recognize how special her property was and register it as a significant natural area. Though this designation does not come with environmental protections, Helen voluntarily protected land for the next decade, turning down offers from logging companies.

Phil said throughout the 1990s, those who cared about the woods "waited and hoped" for it to be formally protected, "but there was nothing else that could be done."

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In spring 2003, Phil happened to be on an adjacent property with some of his students when he looked over the fence and saw blue paint marks on the trees in Hawk Woods. "With a shock," he said, "I realized that they were slated to be cut."

Helen had transferred ownership of the property to her daughters in 2001, and they were not interested in selling the land to the city. Loggers typically pay for land with consideration of the timber value, whereas a buyer with conservation intent may assess the land's fair market value. Perhaps Helen's family thought they would get more money from a logger.

Meanwhile, Athens Conservancy was in its infancy. Naturalist John Knouse, who was considered a driving force for local land protection, is credited with envisioning the land trust and organizing their first meeting in the spring of 2002.

When Phil saw those paint marks, Athens Conservancy did not have their official nonprofit status yet. However, this did not stop him or the rest of the community. John Knouse reached out to Dick Harwood, the vice president of Dale Riddle Forest Products, the logging company that purchased Hawk Woods. Phil organized a meeting with Harwood at the library that included Athens' mayor and several other concerned community members.

The logging company agreed to sell the property to the city for $550,000, which was $100,000 less than the combined appraised value of the land plus the timber. Harwood told them: "Dale Riddle once said, some trees are for making lumber and others are for enjoying. We feel the Hawk woods would best fit the latter."

The city had six weeks to come up with a $50,000 deposit and six months to pay the rest of it. Everyone pitched in. Athens Conservancy got to work writing grant proposals on behalf of the city, the local brew pub hosted a fundraiser and the local pizza joint taped fliers on each pizza box they sold.

Hawk Woods was saved.

Today, Hawk Woods is about 85 acres in total, 70 of which lie within the state nature preserve named for the founder of Dale Riddle Forest Products, with gratitude.

Hiking with Phil, my husband and I got to stand next to the forests' two oldest trees: a tulip poplar that is 252 years old and a white oak that is 200 years old. As we hiked, we listened to the call of a pileated woodpecker, watched a toad hop from a log and marveled at fern moss that cloaked a fallen log. Thanks to people who did not give up on Hawk Woods, it remains protected for everyone's benefit and enjoyment, teeming with life.

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