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From the Arc of Appalachia Preserve System, Headquarters: Highlands Nature Sanctuary:

Nature Notes from the Eastern Forest

The story of samson woods
and how a colony of pink lady slipper orchids
stole the tale
  essay by Nancy Stranahan & photos by Larry Henry

As above, so below.
Everything that is diffused around us
in the infinite space of the cosmos,
can be found mirrored in the microcosm.
 ...in a small drop of water,
and sometimes in our hearts.

The Moment
  
The moment when, after many years
of hard work and a long voyage
you stand in the centre of your room,
house, half-acre, square mile, island, country,
knowing at last how you got there,
and say, I own this,

 is the same moment when the trees unloose
their soft arms from around you,
the birds take back their language,
the cliffs fissure and collapse,
the air moves back from you like a wave
and you can't breathe.

 No, they whisper. You own nothing.
You were a visitor, time after time
climbing the hill, planting the flag, proclaiming.
We never belonged to you.
You never found us.
It was always the other way round.

~ Margaret Atwood ~
(shared with us by K.A.)


 

Letting Go and Gaining Ground: the Story of Samson Woods Preserve
 

 In the summer of 2005, John and Emily Samson signed over their 78-acre farm in Pike County to the Arc of Appalachia Preserve System, securing its destiny as an enduring nature preserve. In John’s words, it was one of the hardest things he would ever do. But John knew in his heart that the only way to save the woods into perpetuity was to give it away. Taking the Samson name off the deed to this cherished property, however, was an idea that took some time getting used to.

William J. Samson, the namesake of the preserve and John’s great grandfather, purchased the Appalachian hill farm in the mid 1800’s and began to eke out a modest living as a southeastern Ohio farmer. Allowing the elevated hill country to remain in its natural forest cover of oaks, he managed the lower-lying acreage as pastures and farm fields. A simple house was built on the property which William lived in, and passed on to his son, John (our protagonist John’s grandfather), who continued to occupy and oversee the farm.

Time and opportunities change over time, however, and it became harder and harder financially for the Samson's to remain self-sufficient on the farm. John’s son, Clifton, was the first Samson generation to leave the farm. He attended school outside the local community, and thereafter sought his vocation elsewhere. Clifton, however, never abandoned his heart-connection to the land. He continued to visit the farm frequently in the summers and on weekends, often with his son John who is the primary hero of our story.  

John’s father, Clifton, had a remarkable connection to trees. In fact, he had such an abiding love for old trees that he refused to let anyone with a saw anywhere near his beloved oaks. It is possible that Clifton's father and maybe even his grandfather left them untouched as well — or if not untouched (there was always the necessary firewood), at least nearly so, a family practice nearly unheard of in frontier Ohio. Today hundreds of immense specimens of black oaks and chestnut oaks still dot the hilltops. Approximately 150 years in age, their straight sturdy columns tower high into the sky. It is an extraordinary sight to walk these woodlands today and not see one tree stump in sight.  Mature oak forests such as Samson Woods are glorious portals into our past, representing a vanishing aspect of Appalachia.

When John was a young lad he frequently accompanied his father to the Samson homestead to visit his grandparents, John and Minnie, who continued to live in the original Samson farm house just as it was built -- without the benefit of indoor plumbing and electric! Years later, middle-aged John spent several years helping his father plant pine seedlings in the now abandoned farm fields and pastures in the hope of minimizing soil erosion. They planted as many as two to three thousand trees a year, and John remembers wryly the strenuous effort he expended. But today he strolls beneath the tall shaded canopy of a dense forty-year old pine forest with a great deal of satisfaction. Scuffing through the heavy duff of pine needles that lies in a carpet at his feet, he is filled with wonder how those fragile whips of yesterday could be such large trees today.

John has enjoyed Samson’s Woods his entire life. He played in the woods as a boy, and hunted there as a man. With the passing of his grandfather in 1948, and then his father in 1987, he eventually became owner and steward of the beloved family woods – which had grown to cover the entire property. The once-cultivated farm fields boasted a solid canopy of naturally sown tulip magnolias and sugar maples. Even the foundation of the Samson farmhouse lay in the deep shade of a cove forest, densely covered with a carpet of spring beauties.

Throughout his life John remained true to the philosophy he inherited from his father --  never, never cut the old trees. As John aged, this family pledge began to haunt him as he realized that after his passing, the woods would almost certainly meet their demise. He began to research his options.

He contacted the Ohio Division of Natural Areas and Preserves and met with Heritage Botanist Rick Gardner, who evaluated the site. Because the forest didn't harbor a large number of rare and endangered species, it did not meet the strict requirements of a state nature preserve. Nevertheless, Rick was extremely impressed with both the woods and the earnest integrity of the Samson's. He recommended that John consider checking out the Arc of Appalachia Preserve System as a possible steward.  Photo right: John and Minnie Samson, our John's Grandfather and Grandmother

John and Emily made a visit to the Highlands Nature Sanctuary to do just that, and, in turn, representatives from the Sanctuary were able to pay a visit to the majestic woods in Pike County. We were fortunate to have the opportunity to see Samson Woods at its best — on a sunny day in April, right when the  life forces of spring were resurging at their highest peak. What a memorable day it was! The oak trees were just beginning to bloom, the dogwoods were in full flower, and migrating warblers sang high above in the towering canopy. The columns of oaks were so tall and massive it felt like we were walking through an ancient Greek temple.

One of the most interesting plants we found that day were hundreds of Adder’s Tongue Fern (photo left), a fern bearing a single, simple ovate leaf approximately four inches tall, wrapped around as a backdrop to a spore-bearing frond that inspired the name. Adder’s Tongue Ferns are very hard to spot because of their small size, so we were delighted to find them scattered throughout the property.

After a few additional meetings, phone calls, and field trips; a warm and amiable bond began to grow among the three players – the Samson's, the Arc of Appalachia Preserve System, and the land. John eventually informed us that he had decided to deed the land over to the Arc, but when we asked him when, he requested we move the paperwork slowly so as to give him time to adjust to letting go. We assured him that the timing of the gift was completely in his hands.

Finally, one day in July, John called to say he was ready. When we said we would get to it in a couple of weeks he said, “No, do it now!! Before I change my mind!" We totally understood how he felt. Giving up land – even when one knows it is the best thing for the preservation of the trees – is still a very difficult thing to do, especially when it has been in one’s family for four generations.

And so it happened that in the summer of 2005 we met John and Emily at an attorney’s office in Hillsboro. John and Emily signed over the deed, officially naming it after John’s great grandfather, William J. Samson.

John and his wife, Emily, had given so much to the Arc of Appalachia Preserve System. We felt completely inadequate in our ability to give an appropriate gift back. Fortunately for us, nature intervened and gifted all of us with a heart-warming event that symbolically closed the circle of gratitude.

It happened on a spring day when Field Director Larry Henry and Natural Area botanist Rick Gardner joined John and Emily on a walk in the woods. Rick had found something of interest earlier that spring that he wanted to share with the Samson's. He directed the small group toward the whispering pine grove that had been planted with John’s own hands. There beneath the dense pine trees he showed John and Emily something they had never seen before. There, growing amidst the fallen needles was an immense colony of pink lady slipper orchids!!  And, just as Rick knew they would be, the trip was timed so that dozens and dozens of them were in full bloom!! John kept shaking his head in wonder, muttering, “I never knew, I never knew.” Sometime in the intervening years since John had planted the pines, the wild orchids had discovered the acid soils beneath them -- a perfect seedbed in which to grow and bloom!

 Sometimes nature serves as metaphor. Sometimes what might seem to be a small and inconsequential act bears fruit many years later in profound and startling ways. We hope in such a way, John and Emily’s generous act will ripple out into the world, preparing seedbeds for others to sow their own seeds, deeds as selfless and inspired as the Samson's’ before them.

Ohio’s Most Perfect Tree

 When the Arc of Appalachia Preserve System received the donation of Samson Woods, a famous Pike County landmark came along with it: Ohio’s Most Perfect Tree.

Situated on a sharp bend on the state highway that borders the Woods, the tree has been a cherished natural feature since at least the 1920’s. The specimen that had earned this accolade is an ancient sugar maple whose branches radiate in unusual symmetry from an immense trunk, ironically the result of what was likely an old injury. However, sometimes a tree can -- over time -- change misfortune into opportunity, expressing outwardly even more of its inner beauty. Such was the case with this stately old sugar maple. (Sometimes people can do the same!)

Almost all Pike County residents recognize the tree’s impressive silhouette, having seen its picture reproduced over the years on everything from local phone book covers to county tourism brochures. Even today, though greatly aged and no longer as perfect, the tree still catches the aesthetic eye of drivers who happen to pass by.

The Arc of Appalachia Preserve System is now the proud steward of the Ohio’s Most Perfect Tree. May it live long and continue to inspire people for years to come!

Nature Notes is published irregularly but earnestly, as time allows. Published by the Arc of Appalachia Preserve System  – a land trust working to restore wilderness in the East. To find out more about us, please explore the links below.