LANDLINE Winter 2015

A Western Reserve Land Conservancy newsletter www.wrlandconservancy.org LANDLINE Winter 2015 Nearly 3,800 ‘Farmland forever’ acres preserved Family permanently preserves Copley Township farm in 2014 The largest remaining farm in Western Reserve Copley Township has been permanently Land Conservancy protected. permanently protected 42 Lonesome Pine Farm, a 119-acre properties totaling 3,786 tract in western Summit County, has acres in northern and been permanently preserved with a eastern Ohio during 2014. conservation easement granted to the It was the fifth-highest Land Conservancy by owners Sally acreage total since Gamauf and her daughter, Darcy Brandel. 1987, the year the first The farm, which has been in the family for conservation easement 92 years, is on Cleveland-Massillon Road, was granted to Chagrin about a half-mile south of Copley Circle. River Land Conservancy, “Darcy and I wanted to see it remain one of the groups farmland forever,” said Gamauf, a retired that merged to form University of Akron psychologist and Western Reserve Land former member of the Land Conservancy’s Conservancy in 2006. Sally Gamauf preserved her Summit County farm. Medina Summit Chapter. “We also wanted To date, the Land continued page 3 Conservancy has preserved 558 properties totaling 41,954 acres. Urban forester helps tree program take root In urban areas, the Land Conservancy’s The Land Conservancy now has time for action. It is time to get our Thriving Communities its own urban lumberjack. hands dirty.” Institute completed Colby Sattler, our new urban Sattler said the Land property surveys in forestry and natural resources Conservancy is modeling Reforest East Cleveland, Akron, project manager, is responsible Our City after the best elements Oberlin, Sandusky and for advancing Reforest Our City, of nationally successful urban Cleveland’s Buckeye- the Land Conservancy’s urban tree initiatives but tailoring it to fit Mount Pleasant area. In reforestation program. Sattler was Cleveland. “I think it is a microcosm addition, we launched an urban forester and biologist for of what Cleveland is going through, our Reforest Our City Davey Resource Group before a renaissance,” he said. “Reforest program and raised the joining the Land Conservancy staff Our City will be an enormous benefit total amount secured in the fall. for the city and its residents and an important part of for demolition funding in Sattler said there is no debating the benefits the region’s continued transformation.” Ohio to $232 million. We of trees. Sattler, who holds a bachelor’s degree in natural led the formation of new county land banks, of “The science is in – we no longer need to justify resources ecology and conservation biology from which there are now 22 in why we should do these things, why we should the University of Idaho, is an ISA-certified arborist. the state. restore our urban tree canopies,” he said. “Now is the He has also completed graduate coursework in continued page 3 Firelands: 2,300 additional acres of farmland protected In an occupation ability to develop a particular property, thereby keeping it available for normally associated with agricultural production. deep roots, farmer Scott “We are seeing more and more farmers understand the value of Butts stands out. protecting their land,” said Andy McDowell, vice president of western “My dad farmed field operations for the Land Conservancy. “The significant federal some, but I’m basically a income tax benefits have a major, positive impact on their bottom lines.” first-generation farmer,” The property preserved by Scott and Kathy Butts is in Hartland Butts said. Township and near two tracts the couple preserved in 2013. Scott Butts The lack of deep said he is pleased the farmland, which consists of active agricultural agricultural tradition has fields, two small woodlots and a tributary to the Huron River, will remain not stopped Butts from in production for generations to come. becoming a successful “I’m happy to know it will continue to be farmed as we have done it,” farmer in the Firelands he said. region. Today, Butts and Other farmland projects completed in the Firelands: his wife, Kathy, who live in Avon Lake, own a large • Robert and Deborah Bumb, fifth- and sixth-generation farmers grain farm operation in respectively, preserved 1,450 acres in Huron, Sandusky and Huron County and have Seneca counties. The Bumbs, who have a large grain operation, protected a total of 742 had previously preserved 750 acres of farmland. acres in partnership with • Fred and Kathy Hacker protected 289 acres in Huron County’s the Land Conservancy. Ripley and Fairfield townships with four conservation easements. The Butts’ most recent All of the tracts are in a grain farm operation; one parcel contains conservation easement two tributaries to the Huron River, while another contains the protected another 173 Southwest Branch of the Vermilion River. acres. • Rich Smith preserved 332 acres of Huron County land that his “We have to protect our productive farmland,” Scott Butts said. family has farmed for three generations. The property produces “And we’re not only protecting our farmland, we’re helping our farming corn, soybeans and wheat as part of a larger grain farm operation neighbors.” by Smith and his two sons. The Butts family was part of a year-end surge in farmland • In southern Lorain County, Frances Rollin preserved a 55-acre preservation in the Firelands. At the close of 2014, the Land farm that has been in her family for several generations. The grain Conservancy was granted conservation easements permanently farm, located on state Route 58 south of Wellington, also contains protecting nearly 2,300 acres of prime farmland in Huron, Lorain, more than 3,300 feet of tributaries to the Black River. Sandusky and Seneca counties. The voluntary easements restrict the Survey says: Our property inventory crews are up to the task The number of Ohio communities used to create maps, charts and reports looking for an accurate snapshot of their for city leaders and has proven particularly housing stock is growing. The Land useful to community leaders that are trying Conservancy has responded with a to determine the best use of available property survey program to fill that need. demolition funds. Since launching the program in “One of our goals is to help city 2013, the Land Conservancy’s Thriving officials identify the number of vacant Communities Institute has completed structures so they can strategically use surveys in Lorain, East Cleveland, the limited demolition funding that is now Cleveland’s Buckeye-Mount Pleasant area, available and give them an idea of how Akron, Oberlin and Sandusky. The cities much it would cost to tear down those in of Cleveland and Dayton are currently the worst condition,” said Jim Rokakis, considering surveys. a Land Conservancy vice president and The Land Conservancy’s property inventory program employs local director of Thriving Communities Institute. workers who use tablet computers to grade the condition of properties Communities interested in this program can contact Sarah Ryzner at on an A-to-F scale and input photos and other data. The information is (216) 515-8300 or [email protected]. 2 ‘Farmland forever’ continued from page 1 to preserve the farm in honor of my father and my grandparents.” Gamauf’s grandparents purchased the land in 1923 and farmed it their entire lives. Lonesome Pine has been an organic farm for about 25 years, and its prime agricultural soils produce hay, corn, soybeans and sunflowers. The farm also has two separate woodlots on the southern portion of the property. With the recent sale and residential development of a farm off state Route 18, Lonesome Pine is now the largest remaining farm in Copley Township. The property is less than two miles from two other Land Conservancy conservation easements totaling 73 acres. Land Conservancy Trustee Jeff Holland was there when Gamauf signed the conservation easement for “We are extremely grateful to Sally and Darcy Lonesome Pine Farm. for preserving this beautiful farm, particularly in a community that has seen so much growth and daughter is now an English professor at Marygrove College in Detroit, “Darcy is really a farm girl gone to development,” said Andy McDowell, vice president of “Darcy and I western field operations for the Land Conservancy. the city. She knows how to work the ground. She knows Jeff Holland, a Land Conservancy trustee and farming.” wanted to Medina Summit Chapter member who attended the Gamauf has three horses “and I really enjoy riding see it remain them on the property.” easement signing, said, “Sally is an old friend of the farmland Land Conservancy. It is exciting to know that she and So what is the story behind the name of the farm? her family are instrumental in preserving the largest “Well, my father used to sit in his chair and look forever.” remaining farm in Copley Township.” out over the farm in the evening,” Gamauf said. “In one SALLY GAMAUF Sally Gamauf said it was very much a decision place, there is a single pine in the middle of the field, all she and her daughter made together to permanently by itself. My dad would say, ‘That’s a lonesome pine.’ preserve the property. She said even though her The name stuck.” Urban forester continued from page 1 urban sustainability, environmental policy and administration. He primarily works from the Land Conservancy’s Thriving Communities Institute offices in Cleveland. “Some refer to Colby as an urban lumberjack,” said Sarah Ryzner, director of projects for Thriving Communities Institute. “He is a terrific addition to our staff and a real plus for the Reforest Our City program. His background in natural resources is also a great complement to our organization’s land- protection mission.” Before joining Davey, Sattler worked as an AmeriCorps VISTA volunteer on the Reimagining Cleveland Program at Cleveland Neighborhood Progress, which involved developing and implementing vacant land reuse and greening strategies.

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