Preserving the landscape that inspired Kenyon College

By Brianna Smith

A stroll through Kenyon College in Gambier, Ohio, feels like entering another era. Walking down Middle Path, the main walkway across campus, the college’s Gothic architecture and green spaces feel timeless. Inside Peirce Hall, the campus dining hall, the vaulted ceilings and stained-glass windows cast a warm glow that makes students joke they’re dining in the Great Hall from Harry Potter. From the windows of Peirce Hall, it’s farmland and trees as far as the eye can see.

It’s a breathtaking scene – and a surprising one. For many, this leading liberal arts school feels like it’s in the middle of nowhere. Yet that’s exactly the point. For 25 years, Kenyon College’s Philander Chase Conservancy has worked to protect the neighboring farmland and woodlands that define the college’s character.

“A little over 25 years ago, there was a wakeup call,” said Amy Henricksen, director of the Philander Chase Conservancy. “There was the threat of development at the base of the hill at the main entrance of the college. We realized we needed to be proactive instead of reactive to ensure the college’s sense of place remained intact.”

Kenyon College purchased the farm that was at risk of development and established its Brown Family Environmental Center in 1995. Still, they knew this threat of development would persist as the years went on. The college established Philander Chase Conservancy in 2000 with the mission to protect the natural beauty of the farms, woodlands, water, and open spaces surrounding Kenyon College. It remains the only college or university in the country to establish its own land trust.

“The story goes that Bishop Philander Chase, who originally started Kenyon College in Worthington, was looking to move his university away from the ‘vices of the city’. Reportedly, he stood atop the hill and said, ‘This will do.’ He then purchased 8,000 acres here in Gambier,” Henricksen said. “The identity of Kenyon College is rooted in this rural landscape.”

While 7,000 of the original 8,000 acres have been sold over the years, the Philander Chase Conservancy has protected around 6,000 acres within a five-mile radius of the college. Over the past 25 years, the Philander Chase Conservancy partnered with landowners on 50 separate easements. Of those, 29 are conservation easements that protect natural areas such as woodlands, river corridors, and wildlife habitats. The remaining are agricultural easements that ensure farmland remains in production forever.

“It’s a generational decision,” Henricksen said. “Most families who choose an agricultural easement want to make sure their farm will stay a farm forever. Once an easement is in place, it stays with the land in perpetuity. Landowners still own their property; they can sell it, lease it, or pass it on, but the easement sets aside certain rights and restrictions to protect it long-term.

“Conservation easements tend to be more about protecting conservation values or view sheds. We have easements protecting over 11 miles of the banks of the Kokosing River, some with woodlands, and one easement on a property with a bald eagles’ nest and a heron rookery,” Henricksen said.

Philander Chase Conservancy works closely with Owl Creek Conservancy, another land conservation program in Knox County. Both conservancies also co-hold agricultural easements with the Ohio Department of Agriculture through the state’s Farmland Preservation Program.

“Applicant farms are selected for the Local Agricultural Easement Purchase Program based on a points-based appraisal system. A lot of variables are taken into consideration,” Henricksen said. “Some of those include the proximity of the land to other protected land, proximity to major routes, proximity to sewer and water, development pressure, soil quality, conservation practices and much more.”

The process can be lengthy, often taking a year or longer from application to closing. The Conservancy assists with everything from application development to property assessments, helping landowners navigate the technical steps of the program.

Each fall, the Conservancy conducts its annual monitoring visits, walking the protected properties, talking with landowners, and ensuring the terms of the easements are being upheld. As ownership transitions to the next generation or successor landowners, communication is key.

“It’s all about relationships,” Henricksen said. “Once we accept an easement, our obligation to steward that land continues forever. We want landowners to see us as partners, and we work hard to keep those lines of communication open. As we age as a land trust, more of our easement landowners are successor owners rather than the original easement grantors. That means we spend more time building relationships and making sure new owners understand the responsibilities that come with protected land.”

Knox County sits on the edge of the Columbus metropolitan area, one of the fastest-growing cities in the United States. As development continues to spread outward, the Conservancy works to maintain Kenyon’s rural setting without opposing progress altogether.

“We’re not anti-development,” Henricksen said. “We just want to promote smart development, and that it makes sense for the community and for the land.”

While most of the Conservancy’s work focuses on farmland, open spaces, wooded areas and the Kokosing River’s corridor, one of its most innovative projects highlights how land preservation can serve multiple purposes.

The Kokosing Nature Preserve began as a 45-acre golf course.  When that golf course was listed for sale, the Conservancy saw an opportunity to restore the area to a more natural setting. The Preserve consists of 22 acres of land planted to native prairie. The adjacent 23 acres, also restored, serve as central Ohio’s first green burial cemetery.  

“The Conservancy was interested in protecting the area, but we were also thinking of a way to bring the option of green burial to central Ohio and to create revenue in support of our land conservation mission,” Henricksen said.

The cemetery features 2,400 burial plots, restored native prairie, wetlands, and woodlands, including a memorial tree area. Green burial is a growing trend where the deceased are placed in shrouds or biodegradable caskets for burial. Embalming and the use of cement vaults is not permitted, and graves are marked with flat, engraved stones. For those looking for a final resting place in the countryside, the nature preserve is a draw.

“Anyone can be buried here. We are celebrating ten years of green burial this year. Death and dying have become taboo topics in our culture, and part of our mission at the Preserve is to help foster healthy conversations to talk about end-of-life choices. So many people pass away without communicating their wishes related to their final disposition” Henricksen said.

The Conservancy’s reach also extends into the classroom. Kenyon College’s environmental studies and sustainable agriculture programs will utilize the Preserve for classroom activities. Students can volunteer or intern with the Conservancy, helping with monitoring projects or habitat restoration.

“We want people to know that this landscape doesn’t happen by accident,” Henricksen said.

More than two centuries after Bishop Philander Chase declared, “This will do,” the land around Kenyon College continues to reflect his vision. Through its partnerships with farmers, landowners, and the community, the Philander Chase Conservancy ensures that the rural heart of Gambier remains intact, even as development pressures grow.