HILLSBORO, Ohio — Years of respecting local sensibilities are paying off for the couple creating Highlands Nature Sanctuary along Rocky Fork Creek and its limestone gorge. .

        Rather than charge in and risk rejection, newcomers Larry and Nancy Henry waited until FOR SALE signs went up or word got around that someone wanted to sell.

        “Anything else would have been stupid,” Nancy Henry said this week.

        Longtime supporter Jim Silver recalled how “very hostile” landowners associated the Henrys with unwelcome state officials and vowed never to sell to them.

        Now, some local landowners are offering properties that sometimes have been in families for generations.

        “It had never happened until this year,” Nancy Henry said.

        First was Paul Barrett, with more than a mile of stream bank along Rocky Fork gorge. “I didn't want to

        see it developed.”

        He wasn't farming the 128 acres and investing the proceeds of the sale made sense. “I was just simply sick and tired of working and just making ends meet” at a factory job, he explained.

        So, after thinking about it for a couple of years, he approached the nonprofit sanctuary. If they could afford the land, “I knew it would be protected,” Mr. Barrett said. “It's what we're supposed to do as farmers with our land.”

        He wasn't among those hostile to the Henrys.

        Rather, Barrett's Rim had been in the family since 1858 and he just wasn't ready to sell even though his grandfather, 94-year-old botanist Myles Peelle, urged the sale after hearing about the sanctuary.

        The deal preserves Barrett's Rim and sanctuary holdings block developers from building next to the family's remaining 100 acres and home.

        The sanctuary originated in the Henrys' decision to quit senior positions at the Ohio Department of Natural Resources to preserve a piece of the earth.

        About five years ago, they settled on Rocky Fork Creek where it carved a gorge through Highland County limestone about 70 miles east of Cincinnati.

        From the start, they have tried to avoid offending or threatening neighbors who often were suspicious of outsiders and the sanctuary the Henrys were creating in their midst.

        That approach led to some wild times, raising money to beat sellers' deadlines. Being offered land hasn't changed that.

        After Barrett's Rim came Ceremony Hill, which took the $130,000 the Henrys had squirreled away in the sanctuary bank account.

        And that “blew our chance to pay off the Nature Conservancy” loan for Barrier Ridge, Nancy Henry recalled. Fortunately, the conservancy agreed to wait and 18-acre Ceremony Hill was added to the sanctuary.

        A few weeks later, the Henrys were offered 16.5-acre Elders' Landing if they could raise about $100,000 in 90 days.

        “The landing not only offered one-quarter mile of river protection but also afforded the most popular of the two existing boating access points along the entire Rocky Fork Gorge,” Nancy Henry said.

        It was vital, but the sanctuary bank account and borrowing power were on empty. Even by the Henrys' frequently frantic efforts, this was a fund-raising emergency.

        “Just seven days before our closing date, we have reached our financial goal,” Nancy Henry said.

        Not only has the non-confrontational approach worked with landowners, it has won and retained donors' confidence.

        Mr. Silver, of Indian Hill, explained his family's continuing commitment, saying, “It's really the sanctuary but I like their style.”

        Those successes brought no breathing space.

        Two families offered tiny parcels. One was a gift. The sanctuary found a way to buy the other from Irene and Sam Borst, of Yellow Springs.

        “They wanted it (and) we kind of liked the idea of preserving nature,” Irene Borst said.

        The Borsts, in their mid-70s, camped and gardened on their half-acre, enjoyed the creek and cared for a century-old cabin.

        “We got too old all to do that and our children didn't come any more,” Irene Borst said, so the couple approached the Henrys.

        Including land the Henrys bought with personal funds and deeded or willed to the sanctuary, Highlands embraces 1,138 acres on both sides of the gorge.

        Nancy Henry, who manages the land, said this includes about half of the 4 miles of Rocky Fork Creek that they are committed to protecting.

        The sanctuary — created around the historic and private 7 Caves park — is on US 50 between Hillsboro and Bainbridge. It has state protection but no public funding.

        The sanctuary offers programs directed by Larry Henry and provides some overnight accommodations.

        Information: sanctuary @bright.net or (937) 365-1363.
       

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