A nature preserve in Springfield Township is opening to the public.
Westmark Woods is 25 acres tucked off a busy road near Finneytown. Cardinal Land Conservancy acquired the property in 2021 from a man who wanted to see it restored and preserved.
Conservation Project Manager Drew Goebel says while Westmark Woods is not huge, it is ecologically important since it is a piece of forested land in highly developed area.
“There is a fair amount of wildlife – we see barred owls in there, red-tail hawks, which are common, but you know they're there. There's beaver on the property. There's several box turtles,” Goebel said.
The preserve also sits right next to the West Fork of the Mill Creek.
“Whenever you can take care of a property that's right next to a stream, that helps with the health of that stream and everything downstream,” Goebel said. “So, locations like that are always a consideration and in high value for restoring and conserving.”
The conservancy spent the last several years preparing the preserve for public access: hand building a one-mile hiking trail, adding signage and removing invasive plants like honeysuckle.
Opening Westmark Woods will provide an important opportunity for people to connect with nature, Goebel says. It's the only walkable green space in the immediate area.
“I hope that it is a place to get away and discover things because that's really what these preserves are... They're an opportunity to learn more about what was here before we started developing, and what we're trying to save, and the benefits of those plants and animals,” Goebel said.
The conservancy is celebrating the opening of its newest public nature preserve Saturday, July 18, at 872 Compton Rd., Cincinnati, 45231. Staff will lead guided hikes, which will leave from the parking lot at 10 a.m., 11 a.m. and 12 p.m.
Westmark Woods is part of a City Forest Carbon Credits project. The national nonprofit calculates the amount of carbon stored in trees, then issues credits that companies can buy to “offset” their carbon emissions. The conservancy says it’s a way to fund its green space protection and management.
Cardinal Land Conservancy owns more than two dozen nature preserves in Southwest Ohio and Southeast Indiana.
“The more pockets of wild spaces like this that we can stitch together and make contiguous at some point, or at least close to each other, the better the natural systems that we depend on – clean water, air – and that all of the animals and critters depend on, the better those are able to function,” Goebel said.
He says he’s excited Westmark Woods will contribute to that mission.
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