SPRING 2008 - Western Reserve Land Conservancy

nearby farmer. The remaining wooded area contains rich,mature forests. Salt Creek, a tributary to the East Branch ofthe Black River flows through the property and is knownfor its unique salt deposits and Native American artifacts.Two other unnamed tributaries flow through the property.Plants of particular interest include a beautiful stand ofgreat lobelia as well as foamflower, white snakeroot, purplemilkwort, and several different kinds of ferns. Many thanksto the Monchein family for their desire to see their propertypermanently preserved for future generations.Ry n e a r s o n Pr o p e rt yin Streetsboro, Portage CountyWorking with Western Reserve Land Conservancy,Dick and Tammy Rynearson of Ravenna Road in Streetsborohave permanently protected their 21 acres. Theirforested property is an important part of the Tinker’sCreek watershed and includes 1,800 feet of scenic roadfrontage. Rain that falls on their land flows through thenatural vegetation and into wetlands that eventually draininto Tinker’s Creek, the largest tributary of the CuyahogaRiver. By ensuring that their land is never developed, theRynearsons are protecting the water quality of northeasternOhio streams and rivers. The Rynearsons’ protectedacreage complements other area preserves including TheNature Conservancy’s Herrick Fenn and Portage Park District’sStreetsboro Preserve. The Streetsboro Preserve wasprotected through a partnership between a private landowner,Western Reserve Land Conservancy, and PortageParks in 2006.The Rynearsons noted that, “After being stewards ofthis property for 35 years, we are happy to be able to protectit forever. We encourage our neighbors to consider workingwith Western Reserve Land Conservancy to protect theirland as well.”Eddie Dengg oversees the Land Conservancy’s PortageCounty operations. He said, “Helping the Rynearsonspreserve their natural landscape has been very inspiringto me personally, since I grew up in Streetsboro. Forwardthinking,unselfish people who protect their land for futuregenerations are real heroes in my book.”Marion Olson, President of Western Reserve LandConservancy’s Tinker’s Creek Chapter, added, “Privatelandowners like the Rynearsons are key to protectingvibrant forests, green fields and clean water. the Land Conservancyexists to help landowners leave this legacy.”Sh e l d o n Pr o p e rt yin Ripley Township, Huron CountyDean and CarolSheldon of RipleyTownship in southcentral Huron Countywanted to ensure thattheir 30-acre tree farmwould be permanentlyprotected from development.Dean andCarol bought the formeragricultural landin 1981 and workedover the years to plantmany trees and acresof grassland for birdsand other wildlife. A tributary of the Vermilion Riverflows through their property. The Sheldon’s also maintaina variety of wildlife ponds. Dean is active in several localand national environmental organizations. As a foundingmember of the Ohio Bluebird Society, he maintains over70 bluebird boxes on and off of his property.Birders and other naturalists in Ohio are very familiarwith the Sheldon family history of conservation. DeanSheldon continues in the footsteps of his father, Dr. DeanE. Sheldon, who preserved the 54-acre Sheldon’s Folly. Inthe 1970’s the area became part of the 465-acre Sheldon’sMarsh State Nature Preserve, managed by the ODNR Divisionof Natural Areas and Preserves (DNAP). Dean Sheldonrecently provided these thoughts stating their reasons forpreserving their land:“I had managed the Folly for almost 25 years. Once it wasacquired by DNAP, I had to move on. We looked for propertythroughout Erie and Huron counties, settling on 30 acres of wornout farmland in Ripley Township, Huron County. We havemanaged and restored the property for open space land use andconservation practices over the past 26 years. As a family, we aresecure in the knowledge that we have helped to preserve and protectsignificant open space areas here and on Lake Erie. We haveachieved long-standing goals in the field of land use conservation.Western Reserve Land Conservancy helped us to accomplish this.We are grateful for its intervention on our behalf.”Many thanks to Dean and Carol Sheldon for continuingtheir family’s legacy of land preservation.continued on page 1615