Athens Conservancy is pleased to announce the promotion of Bill Rucker to the new position of land steward. In this role, Bill will be responsible for overseeing the management of our natural lands, with the goal of keeping them healthy and accessible for the community to explore and enjoy. Managing the land is critical to control the spread of non-native, invasive species and increase native biodiversity; maintaining trails ensures that individuals and families have comfortable access to nature year round.
Athens Conservancy’s primary mission is natural area preservation. Land acquisition is a first step, and appropriate stewardship of the land is critical to protect its conservation value. As we have acquired more and more land, stewardship efforts have steadily increased.
Until now, these activities have been carried out by dedicated interns, part-time staff, and many volunteers. Bill, who has worked with us for eight years as a volunteer and seasonal employee, brings to the new role an incredible amount of experience, knowledge and dedication, and hard work.
If you explore our trails, you may have encountered Bill cutting down and uprooting privet, multiflora rose, and other non-native shrubs along the Trace Trail in Blair Preserve. Thanks to Bill and his team of volunteers, from that trail you can now see the adjacent Gillett Run, which used to be completely hidden in a nearly impenetrable thorny thicket. You may also have seen Bill last summer in Baker Preserve, cutting back encroaching vegetation and removing fallen trees that blocked the trails. Bill has done similar invasive-species control work for The Nature Conservancy and the U.S. Forest Service.
Because of Bill’s work, our trails remain usable all year, and native shrubs and wildflowers are able to thrive in areas where they were previously crowded out by privet, burning bush, and rose.
Bill’s stewardship efforts are supported by our Healthy Forest Fund, which exists to ensure our lands are healthy, resilient, and accessible for today and into the future.
Please say hi to Bill if you see him along our trails!