Discovery
and Renewal on the Huffman Prairie:
Where Aviation Took Wing (Kent State University Press, 2018) is a delightfully readable and colorfully illustrated book. Its author, David Nolin, masterfully
integrates Southwest Ohio geology, ecology, history, technology, and culture to
tell the rich story of how Huffman Prairie State Natural Landmark near Dayton,
Ohio came into being. Aa a result of the
land stewardship restoration efforts of Dave and partnering land stewards, Huffman
Prairie is now blossoming as a resurrected expanse of colorful mesic prairie located
on Wright-Patterson Air Force.
Readers will learn how Dave Nolin discovered the remnant of a historic native prairie and became engaged in its restoration as Huffman Prairie. But readers will also learn how the prairie instilled within the author a land ethic based on love and respect for historic natural areas as treasures worthy of his professional attention and restoration. Partly as a result of this early engagement with the land, Dave enjoyed a fruitful career as land stewardship specialist with Dayton-Montgomery Five-Rivers MetroParks and is responsible for negotiating and closing over 7,000 acres of newly acquired natural areas and easements during his 30 years with the agency.
The story of Huffman Prairie is also an important thread within the early settlement history of Ohio in the 18th and 19th centuries. A highlight of this history is the account of how the Wright Brothers of Dayton, Ohio used a nearby pasture field that was once part of a 3-square-mile open prairie grassland, to test and improve their “flying machine” in the early 1900’s. But long before the Wright planes took wing over this remnant prairie, grassland birds like Eastern Meadowlark and Bobolink were flying over this pre-settlement landscape, pouring their praises over a sea of beautiful prairie grasses and colorful native wildflowers. Readers will wonder how the Dayton area was blessed with such an unusual treasure of beauty and diversity.
The answer comes when Nolin takes us back even further in time, into the geologic history of what is now Ohio and the Midwest. Here, he explains the forces that shaped the landscape and allowed for complex prairie ecosystems to form. With the help of abundant maps, diagrams, and photographs, readers can learn how bedrock layers were formed by sedimentation under a great deluge, then uplifted, buckled, and eroded to form rivers and valleys. Then, came the ice age in which glaciers shaped the landscape and left behind porous soil deposits. The resulting complex of wetlands and prairies that developed on these glacial soils over time was a biological wonder that was much more complex than the Wright “flying machine.”
As settlers entered the Miami Valley in the 18th century, impacts of
agriculture and urbanization began to threaten the survival of the original forest
and prairie communities. Gradually, farmers
drained and plowed up the prairie sod. Others
built roads, railways, and airport runways.
But, although readers like me are
saddened by the gradual whittling away of the expansive prairie, Nolin does not
present the history of Huffman Prairie as a woeful account of hopeless environmental
degradation in the face of “progress.” Rather,
as Nolin tells us, the story of Huffman Prairie reveals how a few forward-thinking
scientists, naturalists, and common citizens took steps to protect and restore remnant
portions of natural areas in Ohio.
I was encouraged by what I perceive as my friend, the author’s philosophy of environmental stewardship. Although we may differ in the exact presuppositions that form our respective worldviews, we agree that it is possible to address the potentially conflicting demands of human civilization while successfully conserving habitats and biodiversity.
The answer is wise land stewardship which not only conserves natural and
biological resources but also provides inviting “places” where we can go and be
refreshed in body, soul, and spirit. Time
spent working, restoring, and reflecting in these places all help us
distinguish our wants from our actual needs in a consumer culture that so often
has too little time to be quiet, reflective, and restorative. If this is true, Nolin’s book is well named
because although today’s Huffman Prairie is only a fragment of the original prairie
ecosystems now largely transformed into agricultural and urban enterprises,
this small remnant prairie will continue to be a place our generation and the
next can go for discovery and renewal.
Nolin’s summary of the extensive historical and cultural scope detailed in Discovery and Renewal on the Huffman Prairie: Where Aviation Took Wing, reminded me of the epic and thought-provoking television mini-series, Centennial, which portrays the history of several human ethnic cultures in what is now Colorado. The following excerpt (page 73) should encourage and challenge every reader who aspires to practice environmental stewardship in our fast-paced technological age:
The big prairie was gone, but the human and American achievements on this grassland in less than 80 years were unprecedented. Here the first practical powered aircraft had been tested and flown, with a large impact on world history. The prairie was an important part of an innovative flood control system that has protected Dayton and other communities along the Great Miami River from flooding. Here the Wright Company School of Aviation trained the world's first generation of pilots. The prairie land became an important part of Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, an important facility for National Defense. Wright-Patt supports world-class aviation, engineering, and research facilities, and is a major employer for the region.
That these achievements resulted in the loss of the biologically diverse living systems that once thrived on the landscape was not widely known or considered except by a few. Agnes Anderson Hall, John Van Cleve's biographer, reflected on the progress and loss at Huffman Prairie in "Letters from John":
"The "wet prairie" has lost its fringed gentians, in deed, but in the first years of this [20th] century it's flat expanse recommended itself to two young men of the Van Cleve blood and tradition-- as a place well adapted to experiments with their new invention-- a machine that would fly! A Government Flying Field now bears their name on the spot where one day a breathless crowd watched in tense silence while Orrville Wright soared three thousand feet into the air! The Wright brothers led the way into the wilderness of the air as the Van Cleves had ventured forth on earth; they scaled the ramparts of the clouds as those, their forebears, had scaled the Alleghenies; they faced the scorn of unbelief, and beat back dangers and possessed their goal with the same courage, the same indomitable perseverance, the same effacement of self. Their lives were as full of peril and daring; their deeds were as replete with romance."
Nolin concludes: Environmental awareness and general understanding of the complexity and value of living systems were a science and ethic that didn't start in a meaningful way until the early 20th century, but they grew swiftly in the 1970's and 1980's. This increased awareness and valuation of biodiversity and natural systems was to combine with a bit of luck to bring back a piece of Huffman Prairie in 1986.
In Chapter 6, “A Prairie Renaissance,” the Nolin recounts how, as a graduate student at Wright State University, he was inspired by the growing conservation ethic of the 1980’s. I was blessed to read Dave’s own personal account of how he and his father first discovered some native prairie plant populations that had survived after many centuries, now on the grounds of Wright-Patterson Air Force base. What followed was an organized effort to restore the prairie and acquire its current Natural Landmark status.
Readers will want to visit Huffman Prairie after they see on the pages of Discovery and Renewal on the Huffman Prairie the dozens of color photos of animal and plant species that currently reside in the prairie. Nolin also includes a current listing of common and scientific names of plants of Huffman Prairie and helpful notes and references, helpful for those interested in the history of the Dayton, Ohio area. Why not treat yourself to this book and buy a copy for friends who love history, nature, and working in land stewardship efforts? Who knows, reading Discovery and Renewal and taking a trip to Huffman Prairie might even capture the imagination of a few young people who will enlist in environmental stewardship efforts in the future.
Readers will learn how Dave Nolin discovered the remnant of a historic native prairie and became engaged in its restoration as Huffman Prairie. But readers will also learn how the prairie instilled within the author a land ethic based on love and respect for historic natural areas as treasures worthy of his professional attention and restoration. Partly as a result of this early engagement with the land, Dave enjoyed a fruitful career as land stewardship specialist with Dayton-Montgomery Five-Rivers MetroParks and is responsible for negotiating and closing over 7,000 acres of newly acquired natural areas and easements during his 30 years with the agency.
The story of Huffman Prairie is also an important thread within the early settlement history of Ohio in the 18th and 19th centuries. A highlight of this history is the account of how the Wright Brothers of Dayton, Ohio used a nearby pasture field that was once part of a 3-square-mile open prairie grassland, to test and improve their “flying machine” in the early 1900’s. But long before the Wright planes took wing over this remnant prairie, grassland birds like Eastern Meadowlark and Bobolink were flying over this pre-settlement landscape, pouring their praises over a sea of beautiful prairie grasses and colorful native wildflowers. Readers will wonder how the Dayton area was blessed with such an unusual treasure of beauty and diversity.
The answer comes when Nolin takes us back even further in time, into the geologic history of what is now Ohio and the Midwest. Here, he explains the forces that shaped the landscape and allowed for complex prairie ecosystems to form. With the help of abundant maps, diagrams, and photographs, readers can learn how bedrock layers were formed by sedimentation under a great deluge, then uplifted, buckled, and eroded to form rivers and valleys. Then, came the ice age in which glaciers shaped the landscape and left behind porous soil deposits. The resulting complex of wetlands and prairies that developed on these glacial soils over time was a biological wonder that was much more complex than the Wright “flying machine.”
I was encouraged by what I perceive as my friend, the author’s philosophy of environmental stewardship. Although we may differ in the exact presuppositions that form our respective worldviews, we agree that it is possible to address the potentially conflicting demands of human civilization while successfully conserving habitats and biodiversity.
 |
| Page 135 (Kent State U. Press. 2018) |
Nolin’s summary of the extensive historical and cultural scope detailed in Discovery and Renewal on the Huffman Prairie: Where Aviation Took Wing, reminded me of the epic and thought-provoking television mini-series, Centennial, which portrays the history of several human ethnic cultures in what is now Colorado. The following excerpt (page 73) should encourage and challenge every reader who aspires to practice environmental stewardship in our fast-paced technological age:
The big prairie was gone, but the human and American achievements on this grassland in less than 80 years were unprecedented. Here the first practical powered aircraft had been tested and flown, with a large impact on world history. The prairie was an important part of an innovative flood control system that has protected Dayton and other communities along the Great Miami River from flooding. Here the Wright Company School of Aviation trained the world's first generation of pilots. The prairie land became an important part of Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, an important facility for National Defense. Wright-Patt supports world-class aviation, engineering, and research facilities, and is a major employer for the region.
That these achievements resulted in the loss of the biologically diverse living systems that once thrived on the landscape was not widely known or considered except by a few. Agnes Anderson Hall, John Van Cleve's biographer, reflected on the progress and loss at Huffman Prairie in "Letters from John":
"The "wet prairie" has lost its fringed gentians, in deed, but in the first years of this [20th] century it's flat expanse recommended itself to two young men of the Van Cleve blood and tradition-- as a place well adapted to experiments with their new invention-- a machine that would fly! A Government Flying Field now bears their name on the spot where one day a breathless crowd watched in tense silence while Orrville Wright soared three thousand feet into the air! The Wright brothers led the way into the wilderness of the air as the Van Cleves had ventured forth on earth; they scaled the ramparts of the clouds as those, their forebears, had scaled the Alleghenies; they faced the scorn of unbelief, and beat back dangers and possessed their goal with the same courage, the same indomitable perseverance, the same effacement of self. Their lives were as full of peril and daring; their deeds were as replete with romance."
Nolin concludes: Environmental awareness and general understanding of the complexity and value of living systems were a science and ethic that didn't start in a meaningful way until the early 20th century, but they grew swiftly in the 1970's and 1980's. This increased awareness and valuation of biodiversity and natural systems was to combine with a bit of luck to bring back a piece of Huffman Prairie in 1986.
In Chapter 6, “A Prairie Renaissance,” the Nolin recounts how, as a graduate student at Wright State University, he was inspired by the growing conservation ethic of the 1980’s. I was blessed to read Dave’s own personal account of how he and his father first discovered some native prairie plant populations that had survived after many centuries, now on the grounds of Wright-Patterson Air Force base. What followed was an organized effort to restore the prairie and acquire its current Natural Landmark status.
Readers will want to visit Huffman Prairie after they see on the pages of Discovery and Renewal on the Huffman Prairie the dozens of color photos of animal and plant species that currently reside in the prairie. Nolin also includes a current listing of common and scientific names of plants of Huffman Prairie and helpful notes and references, helpful for those interested in the history of the Dayton, Ohio area. Why not treat yourself to this book and buy a copy for friends who love history, nature, and working in land stewardship efforts? Who knows, reading Discovery and Renewal and taking a trip to Huffman Prairie might even capture the imagination of a few young people who will enlist in environmental stewardship efforts in the future.
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