News

Looking for a special gift for somebody on your list? With a gift membership to Athens Conservancy, you are giving the gift of nature!  You’re encouraging them to enjoy the outdoors, and explore the beautiful lands around Athens … while making gift-giving easy for you. We’ll even send you a special card to give to…

We are grateful for the generosity of our community, our friends, and supporters every day … and especially on GivingTuesday. Thank you! This year on the annual day of giving, we are raising funds to build a kiosk at the Lindy Roosenburg Preserve near Chauncey. This exceptional 71-acre property showcases mature forests and an abundance…

Meet Barb Flowers, one member of our thoroughly wonderful and talented board of directors … and our treasurer! Barb has lived in the Athens area since 1981. She’s retired from the Ohio Department of Natural Resources, Division of Mineral Resources Management, where she worked in the Abandoned Mine Land program for 28 years. During that…

Thank you to all who joined us on Monday, Oct. 16, for our 2023 annual meeting at Little Fish! While the weather didn’t quite cooperate for our planned festivities on the patio, we enjoyed gathering inside the brewery instead for lots of mingling, Conservancy updates, our guest speaker’s comments, new business, awards, and a potluck…

Hikers on the John Knouse Trail in Canaan Preserve can now enjoy two new benches placed along the trail, thanks to an Eagle Scout project undertaken by Nathan Deering from local Boy Scout Troop 53. The benches were constructed in early August, with the troop hauling in all materials and building them themselves. The scouts…

We are pleased to announce that the Lindy Roosenburg Preserve was inducted into the Old-Growth Forest Network on October 6. Brian Kane, Mid-Atlantic Director of the Old-Growth Forest Network, conveyed the distinction to the Conservancy’s board members and dozens of invited guests at the Athens County nature preserve. The 71-acre Lindy Roosenburg Preserve is entirely…

On behalf of our board, volunteers and friends, our community, and the trees and ferns and wildflowers, the buzzing bugs, fluttering songbirds, and critters of all sizes that call our preserves home, we say thank you to everyone who supports our efforts. Thank you for being part of our Conservancy family, for partnering with us…

It was such a big hit last year, we’re hosting the Athens Conservancy annual meeting at the Little Fish Brewing Co. patio again this year! Please join us at 5 pm Monday, Oct. 16,  at Little Fish, 8675 Armitage Rd. in Athens, for a celebration and roundup of activities over the past year, which are…

Meet Chris O’Bara, one member of our thoroughly brilliant and talented board of directors! A retired aquatic biologist and grant administrator, Chris joined the Conservancy board in spring 2022. He has been interested in environmental issues and wildlife his entire life, since growing up on a family farm in Massachusetts. There, he gained an awareness…

With the support of generous donations from our Healthy Forest Friends, Athens Conservancy has increased efforts to control the spread of invasive plants in our nature preserves. From February through mid-April, our hard-working land steward, Bill Rucker (at left in photo), focused on removal of invasive shrubs such as privet, burning bush, multiflora rose, and…

Meet Dawn Handey, one member of our board of directors — a thoroughly brilliant and talented group of dedicated volunteers! Dawn grew up in the Athens area, and loves spending time outdoors with her partner and three children, exploring creek beds, having rock-skipping contests, and checking under rocks for salamanders, crawdads, and other surprises lurking…

Meet Chris Fahl, member (and former president) of our multi-talented, experienced, and brilliant board of directors. Her love of the outdoors growing up led her to an interest in policy, and she earned her PhD in conservation biology. She is former 4th ward representative on Athens City Council. Why is spending time outdoors important to…