Phil Cantino, former board member and one of the founders of Athens Conservancy, who is still very active in the organization, recently received an award in part related to his work with us. The award was given at an appreciation dinner for older adults in the local community who have participated in research with the Ohio Musculoskeletal and Neurological Institute at Ohio University, and was presented by Brian Clark, the institute’s executive director.
Phil received the Dru Riley Evarts Community Ambassador Award, which honors an individual whose advocacy has meaningfully enhanced the lives of older adults in the region. He was selected among several nominees in recognition of his role as a primary mover in organizations including Athens Conservancy. His nominator (Jon McMichael) noted that Phil has “helped create outdoor opportunities for recreation that benefit young and old alike. Those early years of exploring the outdoors reap rewards in our health on through life.”
As part of the award process, Phil wrote a moving essay about his reflections on the importance of nature in his life. We thought you’d like to read it too!
Phil Cantino: Personal Reflections about Nature
My path through life has been heavily influenced by a passion for nature, which originated in early childhood. I lived my first eight years in the non-public part of the Morris Arboretum in Pennsylvania, where there were no other children within walking distance but acres of fields and woods to explore. My parents allowed me, at a very young age, to wander alone in what I recall as a sylvan paradise. One of my earliest memories at perhaps age five was exploring alone in a young pine plantation and coming across a large, colorful garden spider; I stood there watching it for a long time, mesmerized by its beauty. I am eternally grateful to my parents for putting aside their concerns about my safety so that I might experience nature and independence.
When I was eight, we moved to a suburban neighborhood in Michigan. No longer surrounded by nature, I was drawn to a small wooded area a few blocks from home, where I spent many happy hours watching birds, building forts, and hunting for salamanders. Ten years later, most of that woods was bulldozed to expand the playing fields for the high school. I was devastated. It felt like the loss of a dear friend. That experience lit a spark in me—which burned low for decades but burst into flame after I took a faculty position at Ohio University. I was finally in a position to work effectively for nature protection. My academic field was botany, but as a faculty member I had opportunities to influence land use decisions that I had previously lacked.
My initial focus was The Ridges. When the mental hospital land was transferred to Ohio University, I collaborated with Scott Moody and Ted Bernard on a proposal to maintain part of this property, including Radar Hill and two notable stands of old forest, as a land lab for classes in field biology and environmental geography. We tried initially in 1984 and again in 1991, and the latter effort was successful. The board of trustees formally established the Ohio University Land Lab in 1992. I am delighted that the board of trustees has more recently (2023) approved the idea of expanding the acreage of protected land at The Ridges through a conservation easement. Athens Conservancy is partnering with the University to bring this plan to fruition, and I have been helping draft the easement documents.
Another major focus for me has been protection of a beautiful old-growth forest on the east edge of town known as Hawk Woods. My wife, Heather, and I “discovered” it accidentally during our first year in Athens. We decided to try to hike from Sells Park to Dow Lake (there was no public trail route at that time). On the way back, we missed the narrow path back down to Sells Park and ended up on a confusing set of trailless ridges. We headed down a steep slope, thinking we were coming into Sells Park, and instead found ourselves in a marvelous grove of towering tulip-poplars with a carpet of wildflowers.
For 20 years, I worked to have Hawk Woods protected as a nature preserve. I met with the owner several times and tried to interest The Nature Conservancy and the ODNR Division of Natural Areas and Preserves in buying it. In 2003, I discovered to my dismay that the land had recently been sold to a lumber company. The recently founded Athens Conservancy sprang into action. It was such a new organization that it didn’t yet have tax-exempt status, so we partnered with the City to try to purchase the land from the lumber company before they logged it. Mayor Ric Abel and the Athens City Council were very supportive, and the company was willing to delay their timber harvest to give us time to raise the money. Athens Conservancy spearheaded the fund-raising on behalf of the City. We obtained two state grants, an Athens Foundation grant, and $40,000 in private donations to purchase the land. Hawk Woods is now protected as part of Riddle State Nature Preserve. (story continues below photos)
The land the City purchased to protect Hawk Woods also includes the ridge at the top of Sells Park. Once that formerly private land was in public ownership, it became possible to build a trail connecting Sells Park and Strouds Run State Park. Building that trail was the first major project of Athens Trails, an informal organization that built and maintained trails in the Athens area for over 15 years. It was formed around 2003 by John Knouse, who contacted members through a listserv to join him at such-and-such a place and time to do trailwork. I was one of the regular participants who helped John build the now heavily used Athens, Rockhouse, Trace, and Finger Rock Trails. I enjoyed the physical work, a welcome contrast to my relatively sedentary work at the university, and it was exciting to participate in the expansion of the trail system that centers on Strouds Run. When you build a section of trail, you always remember your role when you walk it. It’s always your trail in a sense. After John’s death in 2021, Athens Trails was discontinued, but volunteers—especially Athens Bicycle Club and the Athens chapter of the Ohio Horseman’s Council—continue to do most of the maintenance of the Strouds Run State Park trail system. The two-mile-long John Knouse Trail through Canaan Preserve was built by Athens Conservancy in partnership with Buckeye Trail Association in memory of John’s inspired leadership in land conservation and trail construction.
Public trails require signage, especially if some trails are open to bikes and others to horses. In 2006, local cyclists were planning to request ODNR permission to build a new mountain bike trail from Dow Lake dam to the beach, incorporating (apparently without realizing it) some parts of the horse trail system. Around the same time, there was a collision in the park between a bike and a horse, resulting in injuries to the cyclist. I organized a meeting of people in the cycling, hiking, and equestrian communities to figure out how to avoid conflicts.
Growing out of that meeting, I undertook a signage project. The Carsonite sign posts at trail junctions in the state park and adjacent Athens Conservancy land were sponsored by Friends of Strouds Run and Athens Conservancy. The trail-name decals on the posts are color-coded by user group (yellow for bikes and hikers, orange for horses and hikers, and blue for hikers only). I designed this system, produced the signs, and installed most of them, though various people helped—especially David Gedeon, who accompanied me on many sign-installation outings and built a lightweight Carsonite post driver that was easier to carry than the heavy iron ones that are usually used. The signs have proven remarkably durable.
I participated in the founding of both Athens Conservancy (2002) and Friends of Strouds Run (2006). I served on the FOSR board from 2007 to 2018, including four years as President. I served on the Conservancy board of directors from 2002 to 2023, with a one-year break in 2020. My major roles in Athens Conservancy have included preparing Clean Ohio grant applications, land stewardship (mostly invasive plant control and trail maintenance), and serving as Secretary (2013-2016).
The accomplishments of Athens Conservancy bring me great satisfaction. In 24 years, the organization has grown from an initial meeting of six people exploring the feasibility of a local land trust into a thriving organization with three full-year staff, several seasonal employees (AmeriCorps members and Ohio University student interns), 18 nature preserves, and 12 miles of trails. Through fee-simple ownership and conservation easements, we currently protect almost ten square miles of natural habitat for the animals and plants whose world we share—and the many people who enjoy observing them. I wish the 18-year old who mourned the loss of his favorite childhood woodlot could have taken solace in knowing the legacy that loss would someday inspire.