MOUNT VERNON — The theme for Thursday’s free community concert was “An Evening Celebration for All Things Green,” a nod to conservation efforts throughout Knox County.
What better way to highlight that theme than to celebrate the 25th anniversary of the Philander Chase Conservancy and Owl Creek Conservancy and the efforts of local conservationists?
The concert, sponsored by the Knox County Foundation, Ramser Arboretum, and other supporters, featured Vaughn Wiester’s Famous Jazz Orchestra.
At intermission, the Philander Chase Conservancy presented its Jean S. Briggs Award for leadership in Land Conservation to Doug Givens and Lisa Schott.
Givens and Schott led the conservancy through its first 22 years of conservation efforts.
The conservancy established the award in 2022 to recognize leadership in protecting the natural beauty, health, and vibrancy of the rural lands surrounding Gambier and Kenyon College.
“The award is named for Jean Briggs, who passed away in 2020 at the age of 99, in recognition for her extraordinary leadership in safeguarding the natural assets of our rural community,” said Zali Win, conservancy Board of Trustees chair and 1984 Kenyon graduate.
Briggs was the first landowner in Knox County to fully donate an agricultural easement, conserving her farm in perpetuity.
“She was determined to keep the land she loved as farmland, forever beautiful and productive. Her enthusiasm and visionary action inspired other landowners to follow her lead in conserving farms and natural areas around Kenyon, Gambier, and throughout Knox County.
“Thank you, Doug and Lisa, for your many contributions and your extraordinary leadership in protecting the natural beauty, health and vibrancy of the rural lands surrounding Gambier and Kenyon College,” Win said.
Dedicated to conservation
Givens directed the Philander Chase Conservancy from 2000 to 2010.
He led the 2001 acquisition of the Prescott property on Yauger Road. The conservancy sold the land to the Knox County Park District, which created Wolf Run Regional Park.
“Doug was instrumental in enrolling the Philander Chase Conservancy as an early local sponsor for the Ohio Department of Agriculture’s easement program, and he successfully encouraged farmers to participate in that program,” Win said.
Givens oversaw the creation of the conservancy’s conservation easement program. The first easement protected 373 acres of Kenyon’s Brown Family Environmental Center.
He served as chair of the Farmland Preservation Committee of the Knox County Regional Planning Commission and on the state’s Ohio Farmland Preservation Advisory Board.
Givens was also a founding trustee of Owl Creek Conservancy and continues to serve as an advisor.
Schott served as the conservancy’s second director, leading the organization from 2010 until 2022.
“Lisa continued to nurture productive relationships with local farmers and landowners — relationships built on trust and mutual respect,” Win said.
“Lisa navigated the acceptance of additional agricultural and conservation easements while stewarding well thoses easements already held by the conservancy.”
Schott was instrumental in establishing the Kokosing Nature Preserve, a 23-acre conservation burial ground. It was the first green cemetery in the nation to be affiliated with a college or university land conservancy.
She led the creation of the Kenyon Farm, a 10-acre farm that enables students to actively participate in agricultural life within an academic setting.
Schott nurtured relationships that laid the groundwork for the conservancy to acquire the 124-acre Yauger Road property now known as Wolf Run North. The property connects the BFEC to Wolf Run Regional Park.
Owl Creek Conservancy: protecting the land, water, and open spaces
“Our community is incredibly fortunate to have not one but two land trusts working to protect the rural character of Knox County that we all value so highly,” Amy Henricksen, director of the Philander Chase Conservancy, said.
“Our land conservation work would not be possible without our many wonderful partners, and most importantly our easement grantors and landowners who voluntarily partner with our county’s land trusts to conserve their farms, woodlands, and open space land in perpetuity.”
Kyle Walls, board member for Owl Creek Conservancy, said the conservancy’s mission is simple but powerful.
“We protect the land, water, and open spaces that make Central Ohio such a special place to live and work,” he said.
Owl Creek holds 50 easements that protect 5,770 acres in Knox, Morrow, Richland, and Muskingum counties. Forty-seven easements are in Knox County.
Those acres span working farms and forests to wetlands and wildlife habitat.
“Those acres tell a story of stewardship. Families who love the land have chosen to protect it forever, ensuring that future generations can farm it, explore it, and enjoy its beauty,” Walls said.
Walls said that for him and his wife, as first-generation farmers, Owl Creek’s mission hits home.
“We understand how vital it is to conserve both our natural and agricultural lands and to find the right balance between rural heritage and the growth happening around us,” he said.
“When we get that balance right, we protect not just open space but opportunity for farms, for families, and for future generations.”
