10/28/2026
Greetings Committee Members, thank you for the opportunity to speak in front of you today. Ohio's greatest outdoor treasure is The Buckeye Trail. Perhaps because one can cross over
Ohio's oldest bedrock layer at Ohio Brush Creek, meander over The Edge of Appalachia and
into the ancient hills of the Lil Smokies of Ohio. Once you get elevated in Shawnee State
Forest, one can witness visible fault lines, where worlds collide at Davis Memorial, and
experience the rural Appalachia charm in the Trail Town of Peebles. After enjoying the southern
hospitality of the small timber town, you trek through a complex impact structure and get a
view of The Serpent Mound, the world's largest effigy mound. This is where you come to be
Wild at Heart, this is Adams County, Ohio and the place I call home. The Buckeye Trail
changed my life as it allowed me to find the MAGIC in the foothills and led to the formation of
the 10th and final chapter of The Buckeye Trail, The Appalachian Foothills Chapter.
Adams County serves as one the states critical strongholds for rare, endangered and climate
resilient life, the "crown jewel" of ecological diversity in Ohio. Where bald eagles fly and
beavers are beavering on the creek. I stand here before you today because that resilience is
being threatened not just the ecological resilience but the Appalachian resilience and even
worse by the ones who took an oath to protect and serve the State of Ohio and the people in it.
Biodiversity comes to mind when thinking of Adams County which echoes that of Appalachia,
but the magic in the foothills consists Rural Heritage, Community and in the case of Adams
County, the OHIO RIVER WAY OF LIFE.
American Discovery Trail America250 Buckeye Trail: Appalachian Foothills Chapter The Nature Conservancy North Country Trail Association The Buckeye Trail Association Buckeye Trail Towns Adams County Health & Wellness Coalition Ohio Department of Natural Resources
