ATHENS, Ohio — After 10 years of discussion and planning, the Athens Conservancy established the Joy Valley Nature Preserve at the end of August this year.
“We’re honored and humbled by the task of being a steward to this land,” Brian Blair, an Athens Conservancy board member Brian Blair, said, “We certainly intend to rise to the occasion of being good stewards. We’re honored that the owner put her trust in us, and that took a while to see what we were all about for her.”
The land for the preserve was acquired by a donation from Betty Lowe and her family. The 2,973 acres are in northern Athens County and southern Morgan County, and had been in Lowe’s family for at least three generations. This new nature preserve is managed by the Athens Conservancy, a local nonprofit land trust, and the Nature Conservancy.
The Athens Conservancy is currently working on establishing clear trail systems for the preserve to let the public hike along the forest without getting lost.
Joy Valley Nature Preserve in 2025. Photos by Terry Seidel, Nature Conservancy.
Blair said the conservancy aims to have a grand opening in the spring with marked out trails and information along the trails with history about the land.
“We’re gonna start slow. There’ll be a few trails. I know a lot of people in the community are itching to go out and so we wanna have some trails pretty soon, at least a few, so people can go out there and hike on a trail and get a taste of the area,” Blair said.
Blair said Lowe and her family went to many different organizations and had many options to consider before deciding to donate to the Athens Conservancy.
“I am donating my farm to Athens Conservancy and a conservation easement to the Nature Conservancy so as to conserve the property from future development,” Lowe told the Nature Conservancy, “prevent mining and major disturbance of the land, preserve native biodiversity, allow the public to walk and enjoy nature, and encourage appreciation and protection of the natural world. May this be an inspiration for other landowners to protect their properties.”
The Nature Conservancy is a global nonprofit organization that protects land across the world. With this partnership, the Nature Conservancy will hold a permanent easement on the property. This allows the Nature Conservancy to use the land without owning it.
Terry Seidel, director of protection for the Nature Conservancy Ohio, said in an email to the Independent, “Having a partner in the Athens Conservancy, with their deep roots in the community and commitment to own and steward the land and ensure public access, further guarantees lasting protection there so that people and nature can thrive for generations to come.”
Blair said not only is the land rich with biodiversity, but also an incredible history. He said parts of the land have been timbered; some of it mined for coal. Now, the land is healing.
“The upshot is that the forest has recovered from these mining areas, and even the areas that were turned over from strip mining, those are now forests again which doesn’t always happen in mining areas,” Blair said. “In this case, it has. The land is mostly forest. I think around over 80% forested this preserve. There are some fields that are excellent habitats for pollinators. There are some hay fields that neighbors use to harvest hay and that will continue.”
For more information about the Athens Conservancy and its preserves, visit its website.
Editor’s note: This story has been updated to include more information about the location of Joy Valley Nature Preserve.
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