| Fast Facts |
location
90 miles east of Cincinnati, 120 miles south of Columbus
ecoregion
Interior Low Plateau, Western Allegheny Plateau
project size
130,000 acres
preserves
Buzzardroost Rock, The Wilderness, Red Rock, Lynx [all National Natural Landmarks]
public lands
Shawnee State Park and Forest, Ohio State Natural Areas and Preserves, Adams Lake Prairie, Chaparral Prairie, Davis Memorial, Indigo Barrent and Whipple Preserve
partners
Cincinnati Museum Center at Union Terminal, Planning Adam's County's Tomorrow, Ohio Department of Forestry, Appalachian Ohio Regional Investment Coalition, Farm Fresh Growers Association, Ohio State University Extension, United States Department of Agriculture
conservancy initiatives
Global Climate Change
natural events
Prairie blooms, late summer; Prairie Daze festival, August | |
 | |
 |
|
|
| In the age-old forests of southern Ohio, an innovative conservation tool aims to restore a slice of Appalachia and reduce the threat of global warming. |
|
 |
Turkey Creek Lake, Shawnee State Park and Forest.
© J.C. Leacock |
|
On the periphery of the Appalachian escarpment in southern Ohio, the Edge of Appalachia Preserve System embraces unbroken stands of oak, tulip, American beech, yellow buckeye and sugar maple that echo with the wild turkey's clangorous call. Brilliant wildflowers, including great white trillium and rare nodding mandarin, carpet the understory.
Reliant on these dense, deciduous forests are 60 species of birds that winter in the tropical forests of Belize, returning to this collection of 11 preserves each spring. Wood thrushes, summer tanagers, hooded warblers, orchard orioles and ruby-throated hummingbirds journey here to nest and raise their young. |
North American wild turkey.
© Gerry Ellis/Minden Pictures |
|
The 13,000-acre Richard and Lucile Durrell Edge of Appalachia Preserve System was inspired by the ecologist E. Lucy Braun and named for two of her dedicated students. Their passion for the pastoral but rugged landscape of rolling meadows, giant promontories, waterfalls, streams and remnant patches of prairie persisting on cliffs and narrow ridges led to |
| early protection efforts in this region. In 1959, The Nature Conservancy and the Cincinnati Museum of Natural History and Science established this preserve system informally known as "The Edge." | |
Today the Conservancy's work at The Edge is innovative and far-reaching. Together with Cinergy Corp. and neighboring Indiana, we are reforesting 925 acres of degraded habitat in Ohio and Indiana with 300,000 trees. This "climate action" project, an approach pioneered by the Conservancy, establishes more forest to absorb carbon dioxide -- a greenhouse gas -- released from Cinergy's power plants. The result will be 54,496 metric tons of carbon stored in the forests of The Edge and Indiana. Another key conservation partnership is with the Programme for Belize's Rio Bravo Conservation and Management Area, aimed at protecting the birds, both migratory and resident, of both forests half a hemisphere apart.
Learn more about The Nature Conservancy's work in Ohio. |
|
| Conservation Profile |
targets
unfragmented forest, exposed dolomite cliffs and promontories, remnant prairie, tall larkspur, ear-leaf foxglove, green salamander, Allegheny woodrat
stresses
incompatible logging, woody plant invasion, erosion, second home development
strategies
restore ecosystems through reforestation and fire management, promote compatible development and ecotourism, engage community, acquire land, secure conservation easements
results
250 acres reforested along the eroding streambank of Ohio Brush Creek | | | | |
