Sylvan Deep

Article originally published in the Arc’s 2023-2024 Newsletter

Preserving a hidden valley in Jackson County

Establishing a preserve in Jackson County has been on the Arc of Appalachia’s radar for a long, long time. Through the years we have occasionally assessed compelling properties in the county, some of them compelling, but there was always a hitch - something blocking its permanent protection that was insurmountable. The saga that follows tells of the founding of our first successful preserve in Jackson County. It is a story characterized by connections with friends, both new and old, and the rediscovery of the deep appreciation of the natural world that binds us all.

The tale begins with the M. Dale Patterson family. In 1965, Forest Victor Patterson, retired from his teaching career in Westerville, and resettled with his wife, Grace, down in Vero Beach, Florida. That should have signaled the end of a very short story but Victor wanted to buy some acreage back in Ohio. “just in case things don’t work out in Florida.”. And so it was that in 1968, Victor and his son, Dale, discovered an incredible 100 acres for sale near Ray, Ohio, and negotiated its purchase.

Both Dale and Victor were gifted with hearts that were naturally inclined toward conservation and stewardship. They recalled seeing remnant stumps 3 to 4 feet across when they first walked the hemlock-shrouded hollows and forested ridges on their property, reminders of the last time the big trees were felled. It was long ago they had been dragged out by horses. Offers to log, mine, and drill the family’s refuge in the hills came and went over the decades, but the Pattersons’ determination to protect their land remained strong. When Victor passed, Dale inherited the farm. When Dale was well into his own retirement years, he decided it was time to pass the torch to a new owner.

The Arc entered the story when a conservation colleague alerted us that an intriguing property had appeared on the market. In typical Arc of Appalachia fashion, the news came at a very inconvenient time. It was just one week after we had become smitten and bound by contract to the purchase of Hickory Hollows at the Highlands Nature Sanctuary. We were bound, that is, if we could somehow come up with its sale price in the 60 days permitted by the seller. Simultaneously, we were chugging away on writing no less than five Clean Ohio grants all of which shared the same deadline just a few weeks away. Lastly, because our “Land Bucket” of cash that was reserved for emergency land-buying was bare-bone empty, we had no choice but to devote time to constructing a fund-raising campaign for Hickory Hollows, a specter that was confessedly daunting.

There was simply no time or money to take on another project. We debated whether to even look at the listing, for fear we might fall in love with the property, for then what would we do? Although the photos on the listing looked gorgeous, we decided it best to look the other way.

But as the next few days passed, the property kept haunting us. By the weekend, we caved in and decided that maybe it wouldn’t hurt all that much if we just stopped by.

That Saturday, Arc Board President, Rick Perkins, and Arc Director of Land Stewardship, Brent Charette, visited the property. Three hours later, Rick had a sufficient cell phone signal to text Nancy, the Arc’s Director, back at the office with just two words, “Buy it!” Having a long history of trust-building experiences with these two individuals, she shrugged off her understandable financial concerns and called the realtor before someone else snapped up the property. Within 48 hours, the Arc was in contract to buy a second preserve we didn’t have the money to afford. This led to some sleepless nights, for sure.

The dramatic story of our successful fundraising campaign for Sylvan Deep is told in detail in the Hickory Hills article, so we won’t repeat ourselves here. Suffice it to say, the purchase contract for Sylvan Deep has been duly, and miraculously, fulfilled.

Because Sylvan Deep was the first wildlands project the Arc had ever attempted to initiate in Jackson County, Rick and Brent scheduled multiple meetings with the Jackson County Commissioners and the Jackson Township trustees. Rick and Brent wanted to become familiar with the county’s leadership and assess their interest in land preservation and tourism development. By the second meeting with both levels of government, they were stunned by the depth of the welcome they were given and the county’s enthusiasm for protecting their county’s natural heritage.

The second township meeting was held as a special open session called by the trustees for the sole reason of finding out what the residents thought of the Arc’s proposed nature preserve. Twenty local residents showed up, including adjacent land owners, and many penetrating questions were asked. One of the attendees was a past Arc board president we had lost contact with. Meeting her again was a wonderful reunion! At the meeting’s end, there was a heart-warming show of support from the residents and trustees alike.

Sylvan Deep had already sparked a humbling and satisfying chain of events characterized by the renewal of old friendships and the beginning of new friendships. We suspect this is just the beginning of Sylvan Deep’s capacity to bring people together. Receiving such a sincere welcome, we are thrilled to make our debut in this county and we are doubly fortified in our resolve to be of service to its residents.

But let’s move our attention to the land. Oh my, the land! Sylvan Deep’s landscape is absolutely breathtaking! Sandstone cliffs span hundreds of feet across slopes that are presided over by ancient eastern hemlocks. Deep dark ravines are blanketed with myriad ferns, right up to one’s waist, and stunning rock features appear around every bend. Cliff faces are sometimes polished and exposed, or alternately blanketed in mosses, lichens, and liverworts. The largest rock shelter is of a scale and magnificence that rivals, if not surpasses, any landscape we’ve encountered in Hocking Hills. Hanging over its center rim is a small but well-established colony of great rhododendrons, a state-endangered species at the northern boundary of its range.

A sparkling stream dissects the property known as Spencer Run. The stream is uncommonly rich with fish-flashing riffles, alternating with quieter pools. The waterway’s populations of rosyside dace, southern redbelly dace, and fantail darters are all signature species of clean, well-shaded streams boasting fast-moving well-oxygenated water. Partially submerged slabs of sandstone conceal salamanders and crayfish, while the water’s surface ripples with fast-skating water striders.

The riparian forest’s rich, moist soil supports the curled bronze bark of river birches, the mottled cream and olive-sided bark of sycamores, gnarled and bent box elders, berry-laden spicebush shrubs, and pawpaws. Two species of walnuts can be found here – black walnut and the rare white walnut, also known as butternut. A wide variety of classic hardwoods share the upper elevations and ridgetops, including red oak, white oak, chestnut oak, sugar maple, hickory, tulip tree, American beech, and wild black cherry.

The preserve is less than a mile, as the crow flies, from Leo Petroglyphs, a prehistoric cultural site owned by Ohio History Connection. It protects a flat shelf of sandstone that was carved with artistic figures at least 1,000 years ago by the indigenous people who traveled the hills and hollows of today’s Sour Run, Spencer Run, and Salt Lick Creek. Both the memorial and Sylvan Deep share the same Sharon Conglomerate bedrock, some of its sandstone layers bearing its signature large, pearl-white, quartz pebbles. The exposed cliff faces at Leo and Sylvan Deep are tangible reminders of the high-velocity rivers that once crossed this region over 300 million years ago, surging off the western flanks of the Appalachian Mountains. Here in this corner of Jackson County, they dropped vast amounts of sand as they slowed down before terminating in a great sea to our west.

Sylvan Deep is definitely among the “best of the best” landscapes remaining in our state. The Ohio Division of Natural Areas and Preserves has already deemed the property worthy of receiving extra protection as an Arc-owned designated state nature preserve. We look forward to developing, per our master plan, a hiking trail in the preserve that will enable us to share this gem of a preserve in Jackson Township, Jackson County with the greater world.