-I heard a quote once that the Western Mountains shout and the Eastern Mountains whisper.

Here, it's quiet.

There are birds flying around.

There's butterflies.

I mean, it's just... ...peaceful.

(sighs) (calm music) It would depend on who you asked.

I think there are a lot of people who do think it's good to have some land protected.

People feel very strongly about their property.

For the last 12 years, together, we're out in the community talking to people about whether they want to put their land in a conservation or agricultural easement, which is basically a voluntary legal agreement that keeps their land protected from development forever!

(Chuckles) And I like that!

The county wants to stay rural and agricultural.

Everybody's working together.

We're not anti- development as a land trust, but it's smart development.

And I think that's where, as in most things in life, you're trying to find balance.

A lot of people do want to conserve their land in perpetuity, which is exciting.

(reflective music) I think when people think of Ohio, they aren't thinking that there is this kind of beauty.

I think they picture the interstates and big cities, but there's this quiet beauty that's... ...been just a wonderful thing to enjoy all these years.

I feel deeply connected to Ohio's landscape, to its people.

I have been in Ohio all of my life, you know, born, bred.

I am definitely an Ohio girl.

It's just part of who I am, I think.

Kenyon College was brilliant in realizing that they couldn't take their natural surroundings for granted anymore.

They wisely created their own land trust in 2000.

Kenyon started this because they wanted to protect the rural nature of this five mile area.

I think that's important both for the college, and think they do it as a service for the community as well.

I think things have changed dramatically for the better in our area too, and a lot because of the work the Conservancy has done.

I was tapped in 2010 to become the director, and at that point it was just me.

It was a lot to take on, but I knew a lot of people in the community.

I knew some of the farmers, and so I did have kind of a ready-made network in terms of talking to people about conserving their land.

I got to know people's stories in our community much more deeply than I ever had before.

Protecting land is important, I think.

For me personally, it's because it has really been, I think, what has kept me happy, stable.

I think it's why I feel so connected to this place.

I just like being outdoors.

I think it's important to protect land for all people.

All the studies you read, you know, the brain on nature is just a better brain.

Even in hospitals, they'll put up photos of green space.

They know that people do better if they have access.

One of the movements in the land trust community is to make sure people in cities have access to green space.

People find it soothing, and I think it creates better health and less stress in a world that is highly stressed.

That's why we have to make these green spaces available.

I think there are very few things that one can do in life that are in perpetuity.

I think to have an impact that I believe is positive and is good for people generally, that's a legacy that feels good to me.

We have done something that's good for us, is good for the community.

I think it's good for the planet.

I feel embedded in our community because of it.

I've been able to meet farmers and other people I had not known before.

We're working on something together and something again for the greater good.

I feel so lucky to have been able to pursue a passion in a place that I came from that I could give back to, to be able to conserve land for neighbors that I care about.

I just feel so much a part of things.

Ohio is definitely home for me.

(calm music)