UNION TOWNSHIP — A walker in these woods wonders how they escaped the harvest — these tall, stately trees that spread like a brown creased curtain against a gray valley in the distance.

Ted Grannan, Rowe Woods site manager, tests his balance on a fallen tree in the 750-acre forest. (Michael Snyder photos) | ZOOM |

        For years, the staff of Cincinnati Nature Center's Rowe Woods and its 800 acres in Clermont County knew that portions of the forest were mature and relatively undisturbed.

        Now, they know they have something remarkable: one of the largest chunks of old-growth forest remaining in the state — including trees that sprouted before the Revolutionary War.

        Confirmation of the forest's age and ecological significance came after a year of mapping and inventory of the its oldest, grandest residents. It was an inventory that one local scientist calls “the most detailed study of its kind that we're aware of in the Greater Cincinnati area.”

Invaders such as this non-native celandine covers the ground in a section of the woods. | ZOOM |

        It revealed that Rowe Woods contains at least 5 percent of the old-growth forests remaining in the entire state.

        “They all realized they had some mature forest, but I don't think they put it into total perspective until we mapped it and started looking at it,” said Barry Dalton, a botanist and director of the Environmental Resource Management Center at Northern Kentucky University.

        The keepers of this forest will use this newfound knowledge to boost educational programs at the nature center.

        “That's going to be kind of a calling card for them,” said Chris Manning, a landscape architect with Human Nature Inc., a Walnut Hills firm that participated in the inventory. “That was kind of a shocking find.”

        Bill Hopple, CNC executive director, said long-range plans include more programs geared to high school and college students, in addition to elementary students it now serves, and incorporating the old-growth areas into new trail maps.

        “I want our education about natural habitat to be more visible and active than it's been,” said Mr. Hopple.

Oasis near Eastgate

IF YOU GO

• The Cincinnati Nature Center/Rowe Woods sits along Tealtown Road in Union Township, Clermont County. To reach it, follow I-275 to U.S. 50 exit. Follow U.S. 50 east to Perintown. Turn right on Round Bottom Road, then left on Tealtown Road. The park entrance is on the right.   • The trails at Rowe Woods are open dawn to dusk. The Rowe Interpretive Center, which includes a gift shop, is open 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Saturday, and 1-5 p.m. Sunday.   • Admission is free to members. The three most popular annual memberships are $30 for individuals; $40 for individuals plus a guest; $50 for families. Non-members pay $3 for adults and $1 for children, ages 3 to 12, Monday through Friday. On weekends, adults pay $5.   • Information: 831-1711.

        Rowe Woods is tucked along Tealtown Road not far from Milford and the bustling Eastgate area. Thousands of people annually enjoy its trails, which wind through lush foliage and alongside rushing streams.

        The oldest trees — beech, maple and oak — cover about 66 acres and rise 100 to 130 feet. They are estimated to be at least 150 to 250 years old.

        Hikers can see a “cross-section of Southwestern Ohio habitat,” Mr. Manning said, “from very young successional meadows to old-growth forest. From that perspective it's a tremendous resource.”

        But what really makes Rowe Woods special, Dr. Dalton said, is that its old-growth forest is fairly contiguous.

        “You can go in any woods and find a big tree here and there,” he said. “There are very few old-growth remnants left in this area. Finding them is like finding little jewels of natural diversity.”

        California Woods in Cincinnati has some, as does Kroger Hills in Columbia Township and Hueston Woods in Oxford. “But it's just little chunks here and there,” Dr. Dalton said.

        Old-growth forest is significant because it contributes to an area's biodiversity, and offers “a snapshot of how this area might have looked before white settlers arrived,” said David Whittaker, a landscape architect with Human Nature.

Reminders of the past

        Ted Grannan, operations director at Rowe, and Bill Creasey, chief naturalist, took a recent walk along the Buckeye Trail at Rowe and pointed out beech trees that towered as a red-shouldered hawk performed an aerial display overhead. They stopped before a white oak that could be almost 400 years old.

        They could only guess at why these trees had been spared. Beech is not as coveted as some other timber, they surmised, or perhaps different landowners over the years were loathe to clear this pocket of forest.

        The discovery of the amount of old-growth forest at Rowe Woods also presents a challenge for CNC, in developing a smart land management plan, Mr. Hopple said.

        Such a plan would not just conserve the old-growth forest, but aggressively attack non-native, invasive species such as honeysuckle that tend to drive out native species.

        That means starting in the old-growth forest area and hacking out the honeysuckle, which has already begun.

        “What Barry helped us understand is that you go to the areas that have the greatest value and start there, and protect that forest from becoming heavily impacted,” Mr. Hopple said.

Police union OKs profiling suit deal
Settlement provisions
Background on issues, settlement
City trying to raise $600,000 for lawyers
Violence part of daily life in Over-the-Rhine
Air security scare delays some flights
Airport security switches to new firm
Hunt goes on for missing Ala. man
PULFER: Thanks, farewell to Monte
RADEL: Cop gets second chance to help kids
Store manager shot dead in robbery
Suspect indicted on eight rape counts
Two students cited for volunteering
City seeking $1M for cement site
Doctor to head learning program
Drug prevention conference expected to draw 4,000 youths
Good News: Surgery gives man new role
Holocaust lesson for students
Lessons in paper-folding introduce children to Asian arts
Local Digest
Trees preserved for centuries
Trial opens in abuse case
Charged man suspected in heist
City center planners off to Denver
Kids study Deerfield sprawl
Lebanon to propose new phone rates
Butler-Warren recreation notes
Second-grader has best penmanship in state
Victim's children sue detective
Nine Cleveland priests suspended on sex abuse allegations
Traficant fate in jury's hands
Unmarked graves at building site baffle Frankfort