News

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…

Meet Sam Gutekanst, one member of our multi-talented, engaged, experienced, and thoroughly brilliant board of directors! Sam might be the youngest on our board, but he’s an old pro when it comes to plants. He brings to us a keen botanical point of view, and knows the vast majority of native plants in Ohio, especially…

In case you missed our most recent newsletter, catch up on news about making our forests healthier, how your QCD can help efforts to preserve land, Lindy’s Preserve opens, meet a board member, and a Winding Road grant funds land acknowledgement. Simply click here to read the newsletter as a webpage.

Meet Phil Cantino, one member of our multi-talented, engaged, experienced, and thoroughly brilliant board of directors! An avid birder, Phil is a founding member of Athens Conservancy, and enjoyed a 30-year career as a professor in the Ohio University Department of Environmental and Plant Biology. Why is spending time outdoors important to you? Being outdoors…

Athens Conservancy’s board of directors is a multi-talented, engaged, experienced, and thoroughly brilliant group! We want you to get to know them, too. Here’s Greg Kessler, who joined the board in 2022. A 25-year resident of Athens County, Greg lives on a forested parcel adjacent to the Ridges. He’s a professor and department chair in…

Athens Conservancy’s board of directors is a multi-talented, engaged, experienced, and thoroughly brilliant group! We want you to get to know them, too. Meet Andrea Miller, who joined the board in 2022. Andrea grew up on her great grandmother’s farm in southeast Ohio, and is the sustainable forestry program manager at Rural Action. Why is…

We’re kicking off a new feature called Trail Tips this month. Whether you’re brand new to hiking or a seasoned pro at hitting the trails, check out our monthly tips here. For June, we’re starting with some hiking basics, and next month, we’ll dig deeper into what to wear … or helpful trail fashion basics,…