An effort in southeast Ohio could turn roughly 850 acres of former coal-company land into a publicly accessible community forest, creating a major connection between existing protected and recreational lands.
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effort → turn → lands
Local stakeholders are negotiating with the Sugar Creek Coal and Mining Company to acquire the property in Dover Township and establish the Sugar Creek Community Forest.
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stakeholders → negotiate → Forest
The project could ultimately link the Bailey’s portion of Wayne National Forest with Strouds Run State Park, connecting about 74,000 acres in Athens County.
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project → link → County
The details come from the announcement for the upcoming Sugar Creek Community Forest town hall, alongside information published by the Ohio Environmental Council and project partners.
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details → come → Council
From coal-company land to a community forest
The proposed acquisition involves approximately 850 acres in Dover Township that are currently owned by the Sugar Creek Coal and Mining Company.
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that → propose → Company
Local stakeholders are working to purchase the land and establish it as the Sugar Creek Community Forest, with the intention that it remains available for community benefit in perpetuity.
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it → work → perpetuity
The proposal is part of a broader effort involving Rising Appalachia and other community, environmental and regional partners.
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proposal → involve → Appalachia
The Ohio Environmental Council describes the project as an attempt to develop a regenerative conservation and economic model in Appalachian Ohio, bringing together nonprofits, foundations, educational institutions, businesses, government officials and local residents.
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Council → describe → nonprofits
The land has significance beyond its size.
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land → have → size
It sits in a location where conservation of the property could create a continuous corridor between several existing public and conservation landscapes.
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conservation → sit → landscapes
According to the community announcement, the property is positioned to create a publicly accessible biodiversity, recreation and wildlife corridor linking the Bailey’s portion of the Wayne National Forest with Strouds Run State Park.
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property → accord → Park
The resulting connected landscape could encompass about 74,000 acres in Athens County.
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landscape → result → County
Earlier, the Ohio Environmental Council described a roughly 900-acre vision that would connect about 75,000 acres of state, federal and private conservation lands.
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that → describe → lands
The Trust for Public Land, which is now involved in the project, describes the current effort as protecting more than 845 acres and connecting the community forest to a broader network of trails and public land.
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which → involve → trails
The connection could have implications for both people and wildlife.
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connection → have → people
Rather than leaving forests and recreation areas separated by privately held parcels, a community forest could provide a link through which people can move between existing trail and conservation networks while helping maintain habitat connectivity.
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people → leave → connectivity
Public recreation and rural traditions
The proposed forest is intended to be more than a protected tract of woodland.
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forest → propose → woodland
The community announcement says the land could support recreation, biodiversity and wildlife while preserving rural activities such as hunting, foraging and gathering firewood.
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land → say → firewood
Similarly, the Trust for Public Land states the project intends to provide residents access to activities including hunting, fishing, foraging and firewood gathering.
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project → state → hunting
Its description of the project also includes plans connected to education, sustainable tourism, forest-based businesses and workforce development.
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description → include → education
The Ohio Environmental Council says the Sugar Creek project is grounded in regenerative land management, community input and culturally appropriate economic opportunities.
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project → say → management
It has also described the initiative as a potential model for community-governed land use in Ohio.
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It → describe → Ohio
Restoring a landscape shaped by coal mining
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Restoring → restore → mining
The proposal also carries a larger environmental-recovery story.
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proposal → carry → story
The Sugar Creek property is part of a landscape historically affected by coal mining, and the wider Sunday Creek watershed has faced environmental damage associated with mining.
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watershed → affect → mining
Earlier reporting on the project noted that the Sugar Creek Coal Company ceased mining the property in 1923, while parts of the land have subsequently experienced logging.
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parts → note → logging
Rising Appalachia has sought to protect the remaining forest from being divided, logged and developed.
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Appalachia → rise → forest
Restoration is therefore another major component of the proposed community forest.
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Restoration → propose → forest
The project specifically identifies continued ecological restoration of the Sunday Creek Watershed as one of the potential benefits of conserving the property.
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project → identify → property
The project is also connected to work already taking place at Solid Ground Farm, where Rising Appalachia has developed ecological education, workforce training and land-based initiatives.
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Appalachia → take → education
The Ohio Environmental Council says its partnership with Rising Appalachia has included an ecology apprenticeship programme, native fruit and nut plantings and an interpretive trail on former coal-mined land.
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partnership → say → land
An economic opportunity as well as a conservation project
Supporters see the forest as a potential economic asset for the surrounding community rather than simply a conservation purchase.
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Supporters → see → purchase
The community announcement identifies opportunities for local entrepreneurs in land-based food, construction and recreation businesses.
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announcement → identify → businesses
The broader project vision also includes sustainable timber and forest products, educational activities and recreation-related enterprises.
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vision → include → timber
This approach reflects a larger idea behind the project: that restoring forests and waterways can happen alongside efforts to create livelihoods.
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restoring → reflect → livelihoods
For now, however, the proposed forest remains dependent on completing the land acquisition.
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forest → propose → acquisition
Local stakeholders are continuing to work towards securing the property and involving residents in decisions about its future.
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stakeholders → continue → future
A community town hall is scheduled for September 28 in Chauncey, where residents are being invited to learn more about the proposed Sugar Creek Community Forest and participate in the discussion about what the land could become.
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land → schedule → discussion
The Aporia
