The Athens Conservancy

Land Preservation

Land preservation is an important goal for environmentalists but some do not support it for various reasons. In Athens, a group of people, the Athens Conservancy and others, are trying to preserve additional land around Strouds Run State Park. Not everyone sees the need for more public land or for removing private land from tax rolls.

The reasons for this project have to do with protecting an integrated ecosystem and drawing a line against urban development. Strouds Run State Park and adjacent land on the ridge system extending westward towards Athens feature some of the county's best geological formations and include valuable ecosystems. These are being harmed even now by invasive exotic plants and other pressures from the urban area. The people involved are not trying to stop East State Street development, but simply to draw a realistic line between what is suitable for development and what is not.

One major objection often raised against land preservation is that it removes land from property tax rolls. That this is perceived as a serious problem speaks more to the antiquated nature of our tax systems than to the value of land preservation. Nonetheless, there are other potent arguments to answer this objection. If there weren't, land trust organizations, which engage in land preservation, would be few and far between.

The first point is that land preservation often enhances the value of surrounding properties. This can actually become a hindrance to completion of land preservation projects. In some cases, the total property tax base actually grows to be more than it was before some of the land was removed from the rolls. Savvy businesses that understand the attractive potential of being close to or next to a preserve can capitalize on that proximity.

The second point is that land preservation for conservation purposes is different from establishment of state and national forests and other such public lands. Land preservation in this sense tends to target lands that should not be developed, largely for environmental reasons. Because of this, the land acquisition actually saves local government large amounts of money in future costs. When the land being acquired, as is the case in the preserve project around Strouds Run State Park, is sensitive, unstable land prone to slippage and other failures, large amounts of money in future damages and litigation can be saved by setting the land aside. There was a recent slope failure at University Mall that damaged at least one automobile and cost significant money to clean up.

Not only that, but if many of the properties in this project were extensively developed, the resulting drainage and flooding problems would be a constant source of headaches and expenses for local government in the future.

Some of the lands being targeted also include part of the watershed feeding directly into Dow Lake (the lake in the state park). Dow Lake is facing pressure from development along Strouds Run, and could potentially, in the future, become unsuitable for fishing and swimming as a result. Anything that can be done to protect the lake's watershed should be welcomed.

The third point is that much of land preservation is in response to nearby development, and removing land from the tax rolls is directly related to development activities which increase property values.

One of the problems in property development in Athens is that development pressures have occurred in areas that are some of the least suitable for development. The East State Street corridor is a narrow strip of land between steep ridges and the Hocking River. Most of what isn't unstable ridgeside is floodplain. Ironically, there are large areas to the west of Athens that are far more suitable for development, with more gentle slopes, more stable base, and better situated for sewer service, but big-money developers aren't targeting those areas -- they're targeting the sensitive floodplains and ridges east of town. It's not rational, it's financial.

There are almost 310,000 acres in Athens County. There are around 38,000 acres of public land in the county, a little over twelve percent. This is not an unreasonable proportion. For instance, the percentage of public land throughout Pennsylvania is over thirteen percent. The problem in Athens County, of course, is distribution. While Lodi, Troy, Bern, Rome and Carthage townships have only minuscule amounts of public lands (excluding roadways), some forty-five percent of York Township is public land, and the figure is about thirty-four percent for Dover, twenty-seven for Trimble, and twenty-four for Waterloo. In the first three of these, most of the land is in National Forest. In Waterloo, it's mostly state land. The only other township with more than ten percent is Canaan, with fourteen percent.

In total, the biggest land owners in Athens County are the U.S. Forest Service, with about six percent of the total land area, and the Ohio Department of Natural Resources, with about four percent.

The important objective for the most heavily-public townships is to make effective use of the public land as an economic resource. The Rural Action organization has programs targeted towards this, and more innovative thinking, activism, and entrepreneurialism would be welcome in this sphere of activity.

There is another alternative for townships, should they wish to take it. Political boundaries are not scribed in stone, and townships can opt for township reorganization. If one township feels that it no longer has a sufficient property tax base to properly sustain governmental services, then it has the option to initiate a process to merge with another township, or to split between other townships.

In any case, acquiring the desired lands in Canaan Township to better protect Strouds Run State Park would increase the total public holdings in that township by only one to two percent, at the same time that local property values are increasing. These are all lands that the City of Athens may annex, anyway, which would still remove them from township tax rolls. The current acquisition proposal is already within city limits. Acquisition in Athens Township for this purpose is a similar situation.

The United States has long had a philosophy of public land for the public good, and projects such as this are being carried out in that spirit. Moreover, this project will help to establish a quality hiking trail around Athens, to be the Athens Trail, and will expand recreational opportunities in general. These and the additional protected areas will serve as an added tourist draw.

And try this experiment: drive on OH-32/US-50 heading east from the OH-682 (or Richland Avenue) exit. As you round the curves, look at the array of green hills in front of you. This is one of the most potent advertisements for promotion of Athens, Ohio as a place to live and visit. You may see development at the bottom of those hills, but the hills remain as a wonderful green backdrop to the scene. Some of us believe that it should remain that way.