The land remembers
Licking County once possessed an abundance of natural resources. Now developed and ever-stressed, there is a growing community working to maintain, preserve and restore biodiversity.
Biodiversity is life
Much of the human story is based on the vanquishing of nature. When European settlers first arrived in Licking County, trees were hundreds of years old and 5 to 7 feet in diameter, or more. The land was clearcut with axes in a few decades, an astounding feat.
Current research shows a connection between this kind of loss of biodiverstiy and the state of our health. We're getting sicker younger. We're in a mental health crisis.
Today we live busy lives with a sliver of the wilderness our ancestors knew. We distract ourselves by looking at screens.
But the land still remembers. And though we rush past it, it longs to return.
The following investigative report involved 16 reporters. We walked through wetlands, reserves, neighbors' native gardens; we looked at bobcat dens, meditated on trees, hacked at invasive plants. We immersed ourselves in the story the land is telling. And in these 10 stories we give voice to the people who know this story best.
The people who know:
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