Ohio

In October 2011, the Cuyahoga Valley National Park—the tenth most visited in the United States—grew by 578 acres thanks to the efforts of The Trust for Public Land, the National Park Service and Blossom Music Center.

Connecting three University of Toledo campuses and numerous parks and trail systems, the Chessie Circle Trail project will convert an 11-mile long railroad corridor into a hiking and biking trail.

Through 2017 The Trust for Public Land will work with Cleveland and Sandusky communities to plan for investment in park and public spaces that both address climate challenges, human health, and other benefits. In Cleveland, for example, less than 25 percent of residents are within a 10-minute walk to a park. Improving stormwater management through potential park investments, while improving access to parks, is a win-win.

With the assistance of Cleveland businesses and foundations, in 1978 TPL began securing lands for eventual federal ownership. In thirty years, TPL has completed more than twenty acquisitions for the park

The Trust for Public Land worked with Erie MetroParks, the Sandusky/Erie County Community Foundation, the Ohio Department of Natural Resources, and the Nature Conservancy to create the 1,283-acre East Sandusky Bay Nature Preserve for public use and enjoyment.

The 90-acre Gateway Property contains the longest natural stretch of the Cuyahoga River within the boundaries of the Cuyahoga Valley National Park, providing important wildlife habitat and resource protection.

Glen Helen Nature Preserve in Yellow Springs, Ohio had been saved many times from development before TPL stepped in to help Antioch College forever preserve this resource.

In 2012, we conserved 139 acres at Lake Erie Bluffs, including habitat important to rare, threatened, and endangered plants and wildlife.

The Trust for Public Land and Belpre Township have protected the 67-acre Baker Farm property along the Little Hocking River in Little Hocking, Ohio. The property includes open fields, mature forests, a small stream, a cave, ponds, and approximately 800 feet of river access to the Little Hocking River.

A few miles offshore of Cleveland in Lake Erie, Kelleys Island harbors rare wildlife, peaceful forests, and distinctive bedrock grooves carved by long-melted glaciers.

TPL is working to increase parkland and trails to connect Cleveland neighborhoods with Lake Erie at Whiskey Island.

In 2010, The Trust for Public Land finalized the protection of 293 acres known as Pond Brook, located at the headwaters of Tinkers Creek in the Cuyahoga River watershed.

At the request of local citizen groups and community leaders, The Trust for Public Land acquired the property, demolished the vacant arena, and transferred ownership to the Cuyahoga Valley National Park.

The Trust for Public Land helped Hiram College protect and expand the land around the James H. Barrow Field Station, a center of research and environmental studies.

Ohio's Springfield Bog is characterized by distinctive kettle bog wetland habitat, so in 2009 when the 256-acre property was targeted for development as a large subdivision, conservationists got busy.

Once a recreation and entertainment destination, Summit Lake Park has become a vastly underutilized natural asset in recent decades. With the environmental state of the lake unknown and the underserved surrounding neighborhood, many residents avoid the area altogether.

TPL has helped conserve over 1,700 acres in the Tinker's Creek watershed in Aurora.