Green space corridor complete with opening of trails

The emerald necklace is now complete

.The final 124 acres of a green space corridor between Mount Vernon and Gambier were dedicated Saturday with the grand opening of the Brown Family Environmental Center’s North Trail System near the Wolf Run Regional Park entrance on Yauger Road.

“Now, under Philander Chase Conservancy ownership and the management efforts of the Brown Family Environmental Center, this property is the final piece of the puzzle that creates that emerald necklace for Knox County. The end result is over 1,000 acres of continuous public accessible green space and over 20 miles of contiguous hiking trails, all of which will be used for the benefit of this great community,” said Philander Chase Conservancy board chairman Zali Win during the ceremony.

The property and the trails that have already been formed were celebrated by a large crowd Saturday. The property on Yauger Road connects Wolf Run Regional Park with property owned by the BFEC and creates a long line of protected nature between the east side of Mount Vernon and Gambier. Nearly 1,000 acres are now part of the necklace.

“This is just a wonderful, remarkable milestone for Kenyon College, for the Knox County Park District and for the whole community. The grand opening of 124-acre Yauger Road property,” said Kenyon College President Julie Kornfeld. “This is really a testament of what’s possible when people come together and plan, when they have shared values, and that these deeply rooted partnerships come together to turn a beautiful vision into reality.”

The property was once farmed by the Hall family but had been purchased by a developer from Pennsylvania with the plan on building 42 housing lots. John Woollam, a member of the board for PCC and a longtime supporter of preserving farm and woodlands, stepped in and changed the vision for the land.

Philander Chase has helped conserve more than 6,000 acres of land in and around Gambier over its 25 years of existence, according to Win. About half of that has been tillable farmland, with more than 800 acres of pastureland and 2,000 acres of woods being conserved.

Woollam has been involved in a lot of the work Philander Chase has done over the years. He has also helped preserve land in Michigan, Nebraska and in the Caribbean, more than 70,000 acres altogether.

“We are especially honored to be joined today by the conservancy’s greatest advocate and most dedicated supporter – John Woollam, a member of Kenyon’s Class of 1961. John is a scientist, an entrepreneur, a philanthropist and, above all, a devoted steward to the natural world,” Win said.

The opening of the trail system is also a win for the city of Mount Vernon, according to Mayor Matt Starr.

“This connecting of Wolf Run to the Brown Family Environmental Center is more than just trails. This is something that values conservation, that values wellness, that values our quality of life here in Knox County. We just wrapped our comprehensive planning, and this is a page right out of that comprehensive plan in terms of adding park space and recreational opportunities. It’s so important, as we grow, that we provide fun and interesting things for people to do,” Starr said. “I know a lot of people and lot of groups have been working on this a long time and it’s great to see this happen finally. I can’t wait to start walking these trails and bringing my friends and family.”