A Win for Urban Greenspace

Curious about Cardinal Land Conservancy’s new Preserve? What about meeting a scientist in real life? If either of these statements rings true to you, join the Greenspace Alliance, Cardinal Land Conservancy, and the Center for Collaboration on Climate and Community for Health (C4H) for their Meet A Greenspace Hike at Westmark Woods!

Join the Greenspace Alliance, Cardinal Land Conservancy, and C4H for this month’s Meet A Greenspace Hike on Thursday, August 13, from 8:00-9:30 am at Cardinal’s Westmark Woods!

From Unwanted to Preserved

Like many wooded areas nestled between houses and businesses, Westmark Woods was once a vacant lot on the market awaiting a buyer. The 25-acre property had major development challenges, including sloping hills, deep bedrock, and soils prone to landslides, making it costly to build houses or commercial businesses. Lucky for us, the previous landowner, Mark, purchased the property in 2014. Initially, he considered building a house on one of the higher ridges in the wooded area, but eventually concluded that the best use of the property would be to preserve the woods in perpetuity!

The journey to long-term protection began when he met with the local Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) office. There, he was connected with a program called the Environmental Quality Incentives Program, more commonly known as EQIP. EQIP provides technical and financial assistance to agricultural producers and forest landowners to address natural resource concerns. Landowners and producers will work one-on-one with NRCS staff to develop a conservation plan that outlines practices and activities to solve the issues they face. Often, it provides financial incentives to these individuals to help support them as they begin implementing conservation practices.

With support from EQIP, Mark restored the woods by clearing undergrowth, reopening old trails, and planting over 300 trees. In 2021, he partnered with Cardinal Land Conservancy, using the Clean Ohio Program to transfer the property and start creating a public nature preserve. Cardinal’s stewardship team built a one-mile loop trail, added bridges over creeks, and removed invasive honeysuckle. In 2025, Cardinal purchased an additional 2.5 acres from neighboring landowners Tina and David, owners of the adjacent Cincinnati Dance and Movement Center, to add a parking lot and trailhead. Now, Mark enjoys guiding visitors through the preserve, proudly pointing out the trees he planted. If you look hard enough, you’ll spot his favorite one – an American Chestnut! While this is not the chestnut tree of the past, it is a hybrid developed by The American Chestnut Foundation in hopes of reviving the once-prolific American tree. Along with the West Fork of Mill Creek, it’s just one reason this property is so special.

C4H: Connecting Climate and Health in Cincinnati

The Center for Collaboration on Climate and Community for Health is a new research center at the University of Cincinnati that opened in 2024. Often referred to as C4H, the Center focuses on understanding and reducing the health impacts of climate-related exposures and events on populations including first responders, outdoor workers, pregnant women, children, and senior citizens. As climate exposures worsen, cities and the urban and suburban sprawl that forms around them will be subject to these impacts at higher levels. These communities often lack natural features like forests and native greenspaces that help mitigate the impacts from heat, air pollution, and storm events that are becoming more prevalent and extreme.

This Meet A Greenspace Hike will connect participants with scientists working to protect human health in a changing climate. Representatives from C4H will share how their work impacts individuals at regional and national scales and will focus on the topic of mental health as well as its connection to climate. This event will also offer hikers the opportunity to share concerns they have about the intersection of health and climate exposures.

Explore Westmark Woods!

We hope you’ll join us at our upcoming hike with Cardinal Land Conservancy and C4H! The hike will take place on Thursday, August 13, from 8:00-9:30 am. It will be guided by staff from Cardinal Land Conservancy along with members of C4H. We will meet in the parking lot of Westmark Woods located at 872 Compton Rd., Cincinnati, OH 45231.

This hike is part of our monthly Meet a Greenspace Hiking series. We hope these hikes will provide the time and space they need to reconnect with nature. If you have any questions, contact Green Umbrella’s Greenspace Alliance Manager Claire Carlson at claire@greenumbrella.org.