Tuesday, July 18, 2000
E-mail, but no tree-mail
Nature sanctuary creators go online to seek funds
By Ben L. Kaufman
The Cincinnati Enquirer
Again, their longstanding pledge to eschew fund-raising letters is troubling the couple creating Highlands Nature Sanctuary 70 miles east of Cincinnati.
When Nancy and Larry Henry began pursuing their dream in 1995, they promised donors only one mailing a year.
A combination of factors, including the availability of several parcels of lands that could extend the sanctuary, prompted the Henrys to go online and ask for money.
Limiting mailings to once a year allows the Henrys to spend more than 95 percent of all donations on land acquisition along Rocky Fork Gorge between Hillsboro and Bainbridge in Highland County.
Land, however, becomes available when an owner chooses, and last year, the Henrys were tested as never before.
After they mailed their annual newsletter, Cedar Run farm became available along Rocky Fork Creek.
The Henrys stuck by their promise. They did not mail an emergency plea for funds. Instead, they relied on e-mail.
Supporters rallied and the 310-acre parcel with its half-mile of stream bank was added to the nonprofit sanctuary.
This year, a donor gave them $350,000 for the down payment on what Nancy Henry called a $626,000 “dream property” upstream that included 114 acres and a mile of shoreline. They close the deal today and have four years to raise the rest.
Meanwhile, smaller parcels came along and the Henrys bought them for the sanctuary.
"Our back is to the wall'
The other day, a conservation-minded owner offered his 12-acre sliver of land that would protect a third of a mile of stream bank for $75,000, but it had to close in 90 days.
“This time our back is to the wall,” Nancy Henry said.
Over the weekend, the Henrys bet on e-mail again.
“The exceptionally scenic land” comprises a “long forested corridor ... and a small lowland field that ... will have no problem reverting to floodplain forest,” they wrote.
“We have signed a contract ... and must raise the money in 90 days or lose it” they explained. “It is our greatest dream and worst nightmare simultaneously — to have the opportunity for this special piece of land when our coffers are bare from having closed on four new properties this month.”
The Henrys have acquired about 1,106 acres for the state-recognized sanctuary, including about two-thirds of the desired stream bank through the gorge.
Sanctuary policy generally limits access to the land to participants in programs offered by the Henrys and their colleagues. Similarly, paddlers' access to Rocky Fork Creek and its challenging limestone formations is limited by “No Trespassing” signs and cliffs that create the gorge.
This new parcel is different.
The Henrys said the unnamed owner “has generously allowed canoers and kayakers ... to gain access to the river from his property. This has been a significant gift to the greater community because this river access is one of only two that exist along the entire 8 miles of river from Rocky Fork Lake to Rocky Fork's end at Paint Creek.”
Access promised
True to that tradition, the Henrys will allow “boating families and small organized groups to continue to have access to the river” if the sanctuary acquires the land.
The Henrys are nothing if not confident. They already are calling the parcel Elders Landing for thousands of box elder seedlings that succeeded the wheat harvested from the creek-side field.
Information, LHENRY@bright.net or 937-365-1363.
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