Welkin Ring Preserve
Entire Preserve Project Cost: $230,932
Current balance yet to raise: $122,932
The protection of 45-acre Welkin Ring, despite its relatively small size among Arc holdings, represents a major conservation victory. The site has allured botanists for decades with its impressive assemblage of ultra-rare flora and exceptionally scenic sandstone cliffs. While we were rushing to get this property into contract when it popped up unexpectedly in the real estate listings, we discovered that it is resides immediately next to a new state nature preserve in Jackson County, one that is still in development, and Welkin Ring will thus contribute to a larger block of preserved lands. We are still actively and earnestly raising funds for this significant property. SCROLL DOWN FOR MORE INFORMATION.
Protecting a regionally significant site
Welkin Ring is an incredibly beautiful property - one of the most beautiful we have ever laid eyes on. It is dominated by a 200-foot-high sandstone-knobbed pinnacle, crowned with Virginia pines, below which the thin sandy soil is studded with wild blueberries. The ridgetop provides stunning panoramas of the surrounding forested hills. Below the knob are jumbles of stacked rock formations that are truly otherworldly. The preserve’s name, Welkin, is derived from an Old English word meaning “heavenly sphere,” while the word “ring” is a verb meaning to resound and sound forth. We were inspired to endow this particular name because of the spirit of the place seems to convey “the earth reaching mightily upward to touch the sky.”
This solitary promontory is, not surprisingly, windswept and dry, offering unusually xeric habitats for several rare plant species.
The exposure was ‘discovered’ by famous botanist Floyd Bartley in the 1930s, who, at that time, recorded a number of rare plants. To date, thirteen state-listed plants have been recorded at Welkin Ring, including blunt-leaved milkweed, long beech fern, pink dot lichen, northern fir-moss, round-leaved catchfly, sweet goldenrod, rock spike-moss, and umbrella magnolia.
The Arc is working in collaboration with the Ohio Department of Natural Areas and Preserves to protect this site in perpetuity, and one day soon it will be officially dedicated as both an Arc preserve AND a State Nature Preserve.
The site’s future….
A trail system is not planned for this site. Because it is so close to the road and has so many vulnerably-xeric rare plants, every footstep could leave behind an enduring footprint. For this reason, we will be providing access to this site only via guided hikes, which we are eager to commence offering once this site is fully funded.