Dysart Woods

Tract of old growth forest in Ohio, U.S.

39°59′05″N 80°59′51″W / 39.9846°N 80.9976°W / 39.9846; -80.9976Area50 acres (20 ha)Governing bodyOhio University

U.S. National Natural Landmark

Designated1967

Dysart Woods is the largest remaining tract of old growth forest in southeastern Ohio. It is located in the unglaciated Allegheny Plateau in Belmont County almost five miles (8 km) from the village of Belmont on Ohio State Route 147.

History

The tract currently known as Dysart Woods was once part of a 455-acre (1.84 km²) plot owned by Orin B. Dysart. Upon his death the property passed to his nieces, Gladys Dysart McGaughy and Margaret Dysart. The nieces held the land for years, rejecting attractive offers from lumber companies and coal companies to eventually sell the land to the Nature Conservancy for a much smaller sum. Ohio University eventually acquired the land and a formal dedication was held May 25, 1968.

The Woods

The area is currently an outdoor laboratory run by Ohio University. The property was designated a National Natural Landmark in 1967.^[1] White oak, Red Oak and Tulip Poplar trees are a few of the seventeen species recorded in the woods. Several of the trees are 300–400 years old and several range over 4 feet (1.2 m) in diameter.

The woods contain two foot trails (marked red and blue) which wind through the woods. The trails are lightly marked and are the only sign of human interference, although nothing is deeply disturbed so as to allow nature to take its course.

The farmhouse located at the entrance of the woods was once the homestead of the Dysarts. When Ohio University took over the woods, the farmhouse was converted into a stopping point for visitors and students alike.

There has been controversy over plans for underground coal mining by Ohio Valley Coal Company for several years.^[2] On March 5, 2007, the Ohio Seventh District Court of Appeals ruled in favor of the OVCC to allow mining under and adjacent to Dysart Woods.^[3]

In 2010, Ohio Valley Coal Company excavated a room-and-pillar coal mine 500 feet under the woods. Within a year after the mining was complete, half of the old-growth trees—mostly white oaks—had died, due to the changes in hydrology caused by the coal mine.^[4]

References

^ "National Registry of Natural Landmarks" (PDF). U.S. National Park Service. June 2009. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2011-05-16. Retrieved 2013-03-30.
^ Kister, Chad. ""Save Dysart Woods" - Athens, Ohio". www.dysartwoods.org. Retrieved 19 October 2016.
^ "Buckeye Forest Council". www.buckeyeforestcouncil.org. Retrieved 19 October 2016.
^ Zhang, Qian; López, Dina L. (August 2019). "Use of Time Series Analysis to Evaluate the Impacts of Underground Mining on the Hydraulic Properties of Groundwater of Dysart Woods, Ohio". Mine Water and the Environment. 38 (3): 566–580. doi:10.1007/s10230-019-00619-z. ISSN 1025-9112 – via ResearchGate.

External links

Dysart Woods Laboratory
Ohio University's Dysart Woods settlement went against OU's expert opinion
Court Upholds Permit to Mine Ohio Ancient Forest

Protected areas of Ohio

Federal

National parks	Cuyahoga Valley
National historical parks and sites	Dayton Aviation Heritage NHP First Ladies NHS Hopewell Culture NHP James A. Garfield NHS William Howard Taft NHS
National monuments	Charles Young Buffalo Soldiers
National memorials	David Berger Perry's Victory and International Peace Memorial
National trails	North Country Trail
National forests	Wayne
National Wild and Scenic Rivers	Big Darby Creek Little Beaver Creek Little Darby Creek Little Miami River
National Wildlife Refuges	Cedar Point Ottawa West Sister Island
National estuarine research reserve	Old Woman Creek
National Natural Landmarks	Brown's Lake Bog Cedar Bog Dysart Woods Fort Hill State Memorial Glen Helen Nature Preserve Mantua Bog State Nature Preserve Tinker's Creek Gorge

State

State parks	Adams Lake Alum Creek A. W. Marion Barkcamp Beaver Creek Blue Rock Buck Creek Buckeye Lake Burr Oak Caesar Creek Catawba Island Cleveland Lakefront Cowan Lake Deer Creek Delaware Dillon East Fork East Harbor Findley Forked Run Geneva Grand Lake St. Marys Great Council Great Seal Guilford Lake Harrison Lake Headlands Beach Hocking Hills Hueston Woods Independence Dam Indian Lake Jackson Lake Jefferson Lake John Bryan Kelleys Island Kiser Lake Lake Alma Lake Hope Lake Logan Lake Loramie Lake Milton Lake White Little Miami Madison Lake Malabar Farm Marblehead Lighthouse Mary Jane Thurston Middle Bass Island Maumee Bay Mohican Mosquito Lake Mount Gilead Muskingum River Nelson Kennedy Ledges Paint Creek Pike Lake Portage Lakes Punderson Pymatuning Quail Hollow Rocky Fork Salt Fork Scioto Trail Shawnee South Bass Island Stonelick Strouds Run Sycamore Tar Hollow Tinkers Creek Van Buren West Branch Wingfoot Lake Wolf Run
State forests	Beaver Creek Blue Rock Brush Creek Dean Fernwood Gifford Harrison Hocking Maumee Mohican-Memorial Perry Pike Richland Furnace Scioto Trail Shade River Shawnee Sunfish Creek Tar Hollow Yellow Creek Zaleski
State nature preserves	Acadia Cliffs Adams Lake Prairie Audubon Islands Augusta-Anne Olsen Aurora Sanctuary Baker Woods Betsch Fen Bigelow Cemetery Blackhand Gorge Bonnet Pond Boord Brown's Lake Bog Burton Wetlands Caesar Creek Gorge Carmean Woods Cedar Bog Chaparral Prairie Christmas Rocks Clear Creek Clear Fork Gorge Clifton Gorge Compass Plant Prairie Conkle's Hollow Cooperrider-Kent Bog Crabill Fen Cranberry Bog Crane Hollow Crooked Run Culberson Woods Davey Woods Davis Memorial Drew Woods Dupont Marsh Eagle Creek Edward Thomas Emerald Hills Erie Sand Barrens Etawah Woods Evans Beck Memorial Flatiron Lake Bog Fowler Woods Frame Lake Fen Gahanna Woods Gallagher/Springfield Fen Goll Woods Goode Prairie Gott Fen Greenbelt Greenville Falls Gross Memorial Woods Hatch-Otis Halls Creek Headlands Dunes Howard Collier Hueston Woods Hutchins (Highland) Irwin Prairie Jackson Bog Johnson Ridge Johnson Woods Karlo Fen Kendrick Woods Kessler Swamp Kiser Lake Wetlands Kitty Todd Knox Woods Kyle Woods Ladd Natural Bridge Lake Katharine Lakeside Daisy Lawrence Woods Little Rocky Hollow Lou Campbell Mantua Bog Marie J. Desonier Marsh Wetlands McCracken Fen Mentor Marsh Milford Center Railroad Prairie Miller Morris Woods Mud Lake Bog Myersville Newberry North Pond North Shore Alvar Novak Sanctuary Old Woman Creek Owens/Liberty Fen Pallister Pickerington Ponds Portage Lakes Wetland Prairie Road Fen Raven Rock Rhododendeon Cove Riddle Rockbridge Rome Rothenbuhler Woods Saltpetre Cave Sears Woods Seymour Woods Shallenberger Sharon Woods Gorge Sheepskin Hollow Sheick Hollow Sheldon Marsh Shoemaker Siegenthaler-Kaestner Esker Smith Cemetery Spring Beauty Dell Spring Brook Sanctuary Springville Marsh Stage's Pond Strait Creek Prairie Stratford Woods Swamp Cottonwood Tinker's Creek Travertine Fen Triangle Lake Bog Trillium Trails Tummonds Walter Tucker Warder-Perkins Whipple White Pine Bog Forest William C. McCoy Zimmerman Prairie
State scenic rivers	Big Darby Creek Chagrin River Conneaut Creek Cuyahoga River Grand River Greenville Creek Kokosing River Little Beaver Creek Little Darby Creek Little Miami River Maumee River Mohican River Olentangy River Sandusky River Stillwater River

Regional

Metro Parks	Ashtabula County Metroparks Cleveland Metroparks Columbus and Franklin County Metro Parks Erie MetroParks Five Rivers MetroParks Geauga Park District Great Parks of Hamilton County Johnny Appleseed Metro Parks Lake Metroparks Lorain County Metro Parks Metroparks of Butler County Metroparks Toledo Mill Creek MetroParks Summit Metro Parks Trumbull County MetroParks