College Woods Update

College Woods is a 16 acre second growth woodlot with many trees that had been a part of Western College for many years. Over time, the area became landlocked and was not assessable until an easement agreement with the City of Oxford was established in 2004. This opened up the area for hiking trails (Built by Matt Dean; Boy Scout Troup 999) and the opportunity for the public to enjoy this beautiful area. Many of the trees are over 100 years old. The woods contain many interesting species including: white ash, American beech, black cherry, slippery elm, shagbark hickory, American hophornbeam, chinquapin oak, shingle oak, pawpaw

As some of you have observed, there are changes occurring around College Woods.

College Suites at South Pointe Crossing has started building an apartment complex, consisting of nine buildings containing 240 apartments. This property abuts College Woods.

They have constructed a waste water line parallel to our property, 50’ wide by 450’ long to tie into the City Waste Treatment plant. This line is not on any of our Natural Areas lands.

It wasn’t until we received a call from a “Friend of the Natural Areas” that we learned construction was taking place. This timely call enabled us to meet with the builder, before the removal of trees started. We discovered that the property had not been surveyed and told them to halt the process until it was. After the survey was completed we learned that some of the trees they planned to remove were on Natural Areas land and, in addition, learned that part of our trail was on theirs.

As you can see, the timely call from a “Friend” helped significantly in protecting our Natural Areas.

Development is not always easy. It seems somewhat like immigration. If it were not for immigration, none of us would be here. If it were not for development, none of us would be living here. Along the way there are bumps in the road (or woods).

Ironically, it was when the City requested an easement from the Natural Areas for a waste water line to connect to the College Suites at South Pointe Crossing (unused), that we received an easement from the City to the land locked area now known as College Woods.

Become a “Friend of the Natural Areas” and help protect our endangered green space.

Jim Reid

Field Manager – Miami University Natural Areas.

524 2197