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Hello everyone!
I’m so honored to be writing as the new Executive Director of Captina Conservancy. The more I learn about the organization and the more wonderful people I meet, the more energized and excited I am to be part of this important group. I come to Captina after seven years as an Assistant Attorney General in the Ohio AG’s Office, specializing in environmental enforcement. My background in environmental law led me to a strong desire to be involved in the type of important preservation and conservation work Captina Conservancy does every day. I love hiking, camping, and backpacking and can't think of a better place to be than Belmont County. I look forward to meeting you all in one way or another! Stay tuned through email and Facebook for information about upcoming events, and plans to celebrate the ten-year anniversary of Captina Conservancy in 2020! If you’d like to get more involved in Captina, please call, email, or just stop by the office any time! My email is: ellie@captina.org
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This video was passed on to us and features the very first conservation easement held by the Captina Conservancy. At just over 1000 acres, perhaps this video will help explain why the landowners wanted it protected. You can learn more about the people behind saving Raven Rocks here: http://www.raven-rocks.org/. Raven Rocks is located in southern Belmont County. It is privately owned, but the public is invited and encouraged to explore this hidden feature that reveals itself in a big way as soon as you take the path into the woods and head down the stairs. As a gentle reminder, this place is protected by a conservation easement. It is meant to be enjoyed forever, not abused and destroyed by humans. Stairs have been constructed to allow for easier access and to prevent slope erosion by visitors, but there are no rails for the steep edges. Please, spend some time here, but remember the 7 Principles of Leave No Trace so others can experience having their breath taken away as well. The 7 Principles of Leave No Trace and how they apply to visiting Raven Rocks
 Not much needs to be said about this photo except that it was captured by our drone operator, Jonathan, on Tuesday, June 18.
Photo credit: Daniel Caron
The US Forest Service has teamed up with the Ad Council to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the National Trails System Act, which occurred in August 2018. I just heard one of the radio advertisements today. This PSA campaign couldn't come at a more pressing time. In a world inundated with technology and constant notifications, we, especially kids, are spending more time looking down than around. Stop reading this for 30 seconds and take a look around yourself. This campaign doesn't promote putting the technology away completely. Several of the tools are interactive trails and forest locators. And it also doesn't blowing the dust off the encyclopedias, but the campaign does emphasizes getting outside to get some questions answered. After all, that's how it was done. Check out more of the PSAs here and see why "some answers can only be found on the trail." Earlier this month, the Senate recently passed the Natural Resource Management Act. This package contains a lot of information - including more than 100 different bills - that all impact public lands and conservation in one way or another. Why do we care? Within this Act, the Land and Water Conservation Fund (LWCF) would be permanently reauthorized. This program is an avenue for Captina Conservancy to use to acquire lands for conservation and access as we continue to grow. Learn more about LWCF and how you can help by calling your Representative. Another important piece of the package is the reauthorization of the Partners for Fish and Wildlife Program. The is a program that our partner agency, Belmont Soil and Water Conservation District, has actively used to complete a variety of projects with the assistance of the US Fish and Wildlife Service. Projects completed include: vernal pool creation, pollinator habitats, and habitat restoration within Captina Creek Watershed. The full Natural Resource Management Act needs to get through the House and the rest of the legislative process, but this is a tremendous step for conservation within these United States. The Wildlife Society wrote a good article summarizing the main points of the Act. And if you are up for some light reading, you can check out the full Act (S 47) here.  <<UPDATE>>
The John D. Dingell, Jr. Conservation, Management, and Recreation Act became law on March 12, 2019. This is a momentous achievement for the world of conservation. You can read the final Act here. Thank you to Ohio's senators and representatives that supported the passage of this act: Senator Sherrod Brown, Senator Rob Portman, Representative Joyce Beatty, Representative Bill Johnson, Representative David Joyce, Representative Robert Latta, Representative Bob Gibbs, Representative Marcy Kaptur, Representative Michael Turner, Representative Marcia Fudge, Representative Troy Balderson, Representative Anthony Gonzalez, Representative Tim Ryan, and Representative Steve Stivers
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