If you carry the biophilia gene and have an insatiable. rock run wilderness. can an entire watershed in Ohio be protected?

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1 rock run wilderness can an entire watershed in Ohio be protected? If you carry the biophilia gene and have an insatiable longing for wilderness, then you are going to love the Arc s Rock Run Wilderness Preserve. Overlooking the Ohio River just east of Portsmouth, Rock Run Wilderness is tucked into the curve of the 60,000 acre Shawnee State Forest, known as the Little Smokies of Ohio. The rapid elevation change at Rock Run, from its 1,100 foot ridgetops to Rock Run s confluence with the Ohio River at the 480 foot elevation, is more dramatic and swift than anywhere else in the state and provides vistas that are heart-stopping. Part of the enchantment of Rock Run s landscape is the ever-changing nature of the creek as it cuts down alternately between beds of sandstone and beds of shale in its steep descent to the Ohio River. If you are trying to walk the creek, 5 which is a perilous task, you will sometimes be stepping across flat beds of shining blue and very slippery shale, and sometimes clambering over giant blocks of sandstone. Over your head the walls of the narrow ravine tower upward to an invisible ridge. Direct sunlight rarely penetrates the valley floor. The closer the Little Smokies march to the Ohio River the narrower and deeper the stream valleys. This point was driven home when, after buying our first tracts at Rock Run back in , two major landslides occurred shortly afterward, making the idea of establishing permanent hiking trails in the lower valley untenable. One slide even blocked Rock Run s main stream with rubble for a time until floodwaters washed it out.

2 Rock Run Wilderness in the morning mist by Tom Croce Photography Trillium grandiflorum, above; and Trillium erectum, below. High biodiversity thrives in warmth and water throughout the world. Even in a state as small as Ohio one can witness an increasing diversity gradient from Lake Erie s shores to the balmier climate of the Ohio River Valley. Last summer an allspecies Bioblitz inventory was taken in the upper watershed by several expert botanists and naturalists in the span of just one 24 hour day. The vascular plant species count that day, including Arc records from more casual field studies in the lower watershed, totaled 507 species. Considering this was the first serious botanical study ever conducted in the Rock Run watershed and knowing it is far from complete, the species count is already impressively high. High Plant Diversity. By comparison, the inventory of vascular plants at Fort Hill, arguably the oldest and largest 6

3 forest in the state, is 645 species, a list that has been garnered over not just one day, but fifty years of thorough botanizing. The count represents thousands of field hours, beginning with the renowned botanist, Dr. Lucy Braun, back in It is expected that continuing studies of Rock Run will yield considerably more vascular plant species over time. Opportunity Knocks. The Arc is now poised to acquire land in the Rock Run watershed with a thoroughness we never dared dreamed would be possible. Because Rock Run is a relatively small watershed, measuring only 2.2 square miles (1400 acres), and Because Shawnee State Forest already owns most of the upper and middle watershed, and the Arc already owns most of the lower watershed, and Because we have been blessed with interested land sellers in the region, our current opportunity to buy four additional properties at Rock Run enables us to come very close to completing the protection of the entire Rock Run watershed, raising the Arc s preserve holdings from 400 acres to nearly 700. Three of the four acquisition properties have already been awarded Clean Ohio funding, which leverages any donation our donors may give to 4X its original buying power. We will be submitting the fourth property to the next Clean Ohio grant round in spring of Balance needed. If we are awarded the final grant, the portion of the $541,000 needed to fund all four properties is only $154,724. Thanks to Rock Run gifts already received, plus an IMMENSE anonymous donation of $50,000 which the giver intended to kick off this campaign with an explosive start (and succeeded!!), we only need to raise an additional $100,000 to complete funding for nearly 300 more acres in the watershed. Over fifty biologists, expert naturalists and field researchers mounted the slopes of Rock Run last year to inventory its natural assets. Up until that time, Rock Run was known only to a few nature enthusiasts and Arc supporters. Today, it is admired by many professionals around the state, and its natural history and geology is much better understood. We now know that Rock Run boasts 12 statelisted plant species: 6 threatened and 6 potentially threatened. The watershed shelters 1 statethreatened salamander, 5 animals of special concern, and 7 watch-list bird species. These 7 birds are prioritized for conservation measures due to substantial population decreases. The watershed provides habitat continued on page 11

4 Total Cost: $540,695 Balance Needed: $99, Sandy Springs Region Rock Run waters cut alternatively between sandstone and shale, each level expressing its own unique and jumbled beauty. Top photo pictures Aaron Crank. Photos by Jon Srofe. Acquisition #1 provides land suitable for a trailhead parking lot, It provides the Arc with its first feasible hiking trail route from roadside to the ridgetop overlooking the main valley of Rock Run. The new trail is planned to open to the public some time in

5 IV. III. II. I. Rock Run Campaign 4 Acquisitions 300 acres of expanded protection

6 for the endangered timber rattlesnake which has winter hibernation sites nearby in the State Forest, supporting what could potentially be the last viable population in the state. Rock Run has also long served as an epicenter for bobcats, a species only recently removed from the state-threatened list. Significantly, Rock Run is just a few miles away from the only sustainable colony of the endangered Allegheny wood rat left in the state. Last year, and again in 2017, the staff from the Midwest Biodiversity Institute, Inc. (MBI) assessed the water quality and fauna of Rock Run s wetlands - the first time the aquatic habitats of Rock Run have ever been studied. MBI documented that the watershed is 98% forested, which makes it the 5th highest-rated watershed of its size class in the entire state. Furthermore, Rock Run s biological inventories ranked it - on the basis of certain key macroinvertebrate attributes - among the top 10% of similar-sized streams in Ohio. MBI concluded Rock Run should be designated a coldwater stream because it met the required two out of the following three criteria: 1) at least six cold-water species, 2) at least six pollution-sensitive animal species, and 3) at least six stonefly, mayfly, and/or caddisfly species. Each of Rock Run s four monitoring sites scored an extraordinary species in either the #2 or the #3 criteria, far above the six species needed in each. In addition, one site produced six cold water species, and all four sites produced at least four cold water species. When Ed Rankin, the MBI staffer who conducted these studies was asked what this data meant in ordinary English, he said, If the surrounding forest is allowed to return to an old growth condition, Rock Run could be one heck of a pristine waterway, of a quality which does not remain anywhere in Ohio today. Most Significant Wetlands in the County. Rock Run watershed supports the only Category 2 wetlands in Adams County. Significantly the wetlands ranks only a few points under the highest category possible, Category 3, and will likely achieve 3 as the wetlands matures over time. Rock Run also supports numerous vernal pools and benches, altogether supporting 14 species of amphibians. Of honorable mention are the four-toed salamander, a species of concern, and the state-threatened midland mud salamander. Botanical Treasures. Rock Run Wilderness shelters one of the few birch-hemlock forests that is preserved anywhere in the state. The watershed protects 24 species of ferns and many interesting wildflowers, including wake robin (Trillium erectum), spotted mandarin (Prosartes maculata), pink lady slipper, mountain laurel, and Meehania cordata, a small but pretty mint restricted to a few mid-eastern states. 11 Bobcat Timber Rattlesnake by Jerry Dalrymple MIdland Mud Salamander by John Howard

7 Rock Run Upper Wilderness watershed Upper of Watershed Rock Run by by Tom Croce Tom Croce Photography Photography