The land conservation work taken on by the Philander Chase Conservancy (PCC) over the past quarter century is designed to provide results that last a lifetime — and beyond.
That’s because agricultural and conservation easements — the primary tools used by the College’s land trust to protect natural habitats, agricultural land and other open spaces within a five-mile radius of Gambier — last forever.
Since its founding in 2000, the conservancy has worked to protect over 6,000 acres of farmland, woodlands, waters and open spaces and more than 10 miles of the banks of the Kokosing River. This includes 29 conservation easements, 21 agricultural easements and 10 properties owned by the conservancy.
“The conservancy has accomplished great things in its 25 years,” said Amy Henricksen, PCC director. “But there’s a lot more work to be done.”
As the conservancy celebrates its milestone 25th anniversary with a number of special events, it’s also gearing up for the next quarter century. That means more work promoting smart development around Knox County that recognizes and protects the area’s rural identity.
“Kenyon wouldn't be Kenyon anywhere else,” Henricksen said. “We want people to know that this setting doesn't happen by accident. It's intentional and requires focused work, dedicated effort and financial support in order to protect the College’s sense of place.”
To that end, the land trust has been actively involved in recent efforts by county officials to draft the Knox County 2025 Comprehensive Plan and has worked closely with community partners like the Owl Creek Conservancy, a nonprofit dedicated to conserving land in Knox County that also is celebrating 25 years in 2025. Both land trusts were recognized for their work last month with commendations from the Ohio House of Representatives.
Kenyon is the only college or university in the nation to establish its own land trust. The Philander Chase Conservancy, which operates out of Woollam House (named for John Woollam ’61 H’08), was founded to address development challenges in Gambier and for the succeeding 25 years has collaborated with farmers, landowners, environmental organizations and government agencies to maintain the rural character of the surrounding area.
That mission remains as strong as ever for the College, which celebrated its bicentennial last year, and for Henricksen, who remains inspired by the College’s relationship to the land as she considers the conservancy’s future goals.
“When Bishop Philander Chase first stood on this Hill and said, ‘This will do,’ he purchased 8,000 acres of land,” Henricksen said. “I would love to see the conservancy achieve the meaningful milestone of forever protecting 8,000 acres from development.”
As development pressures increase, though, the price of land and the value of easements increase as well.
“It makes our fundraising efforts that much more important,” Henricksen said, explaining that the land trust’s efforts are independently funded and rely on the conservancy’s fundraising efforts, endowments and grant funding.
Zali Win ’84, chair of PCC’s board of directors, said he is proud of the steps the conservancy has taken to make it a sustainable organization, including the successful completion of the Land Trust Accreditation Commission accreditation process three years ago.. He looks forward to continuing the conservancy’s work by educating more students, alumni and local residents about land conservation and how such efforts can work hand in hand with inevitable development.
“We've really made a great effort to engage with a wider number of people,” Win said. “What we've tried to do is expand people's knowledge of what we do to encourage them and recruit them to join in our mission.”
Part of that effort, he continued, means integrating more with the College curriculum as well as campus activities to enrich the student experience. Already, classes visit and conduct research at the Kokosing Nature Preserve, a PCC project offering green burial services on 23 acres of restored prairies and woodlands in Gambier.
The conservancy also employs several student interns, who contribute to its work and create important programming like the recent campus panel titled “Twenty-five Years of Land Conservation in Knox County.”
Jordan Schisler ’25, a Mount Vernon native and environmental studies major, has been a student intern at the land trust during each of her four years at Kenyon. She’s done everything from office work to social media to hosting student events.
“It's really been one of the things that has made my Kenyon career,” she said. “Working with land conservation and learning more about what that looks like practically was really intriguing to me.”
Educating the student body about what the conservancy does and building awareness has been particularly fulfilling, she said.
“It's been nice to see people learn and become excited and engage with some of our events more than at the beginning when I started,” Schisler said. “I hope we continue to make opportunities and events for students.”
To highlight its good work as PCC celebrates 25 years, a number of events will center on the former farm along Yauger Road that the conservancy acquired in 2023 with the help of Woollam and state grant funding.
“The Yauger Road property is 124 acres located between Wolf Run Regional Park and the Brown Family Environmental Center’s Hall Farm, so it was the missing piece in creating a publically accessible green space of over a thousand contiguous acres and over 20 miles of contiguous trails,” Henricksen said.
The BFEC, a 700-acre nature preserve established by the College along the Kokosing River valley, opened in 1995 and is celebrating its 30th anniversary this year. The BFEC will manage the Yauger Road property as the northernmost section of the environmental center and its trail system.
There will be a ribbon cutting at the Yauger Road property on June 28 at 10 a.m., and a tour for alums will take place during Reunion Weekend on May 24 at 2 p.m.; registration for the alumni tour is required.
Other events being planned by the conservancy in honor of its 25th anniversary include a birdwatching walk at the Kokosing Nature Preserve on May 3, and a a screening of the Brad Barber short documentary, “Ohio” on May 24 in Oden Hall that features Lisa Schott ’80, former PCC managing director, as part of Barber’s “States of America” series.
Learn more about events celebrating the conservancy's 25th anniversary.