President Jim Campbell

Jim Campbell, president of the TLT board, is a man who is finally making a living at what he loves to do. He is director of open space of the National Trail Parks and Recreation District in Clark County. 

Campbell's real passion is history and historic preservation. It is what drew him to George Rogers Clark Historical Park to begin with as a member of the George Roger Clark Heritage Association. The Davidson Interpretive Center is dedicated to introducing people to early pioneer and native American life before the mid-1800s.

Campbell is a member of the Early Breeds Group, which works assiduously at back-breeding farm animals to resemble their forbearers a century or more ago. Campbell's specialty is pigs.  He also raises Scottish Highland Cattle, an 800 year old breed. A long-time member of the Clark County Historical Society, Campbell was also a founding member of the Clark County Chapter of the Tecumseh Land Trust in 1998.

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Vice-President Jim Timmons

Jim Timmons knows first-hand about urban sprawl and disappearing farmland. On April 1, he and his wife moved out of the house they had lived in for almost 30 years. On April 2, a bulldozer knocked it down to make room for a road.

Once the view from the windows of his house at the Masonic Home in Springfield, included hundreds of acres of farmland. Just before he moved, the views included acres of condos and apartments developed by the Home, as well as the continuing sprawl near Springfield.

His close-up views of how development on and near the Masonic Home erodes the quality of life persuaded Timmons that he could be useful on the Tecumseh Land Trust Board. Timmons strongly believes in the mission of the land trust, but understands, more than most, the practical problems facing farmers today. He speaks with a voice that’s always welcome on the board.

Jim is a full-time farmer and is active on the Clark County Farmland Preservation Workgroup and the Clark County Fair Board.

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Secretary David Neuhardt

Dave Neuhardt is a corporate attorney. He and his wife Sharen own 600 acres of farmland in Miami Township, much of which is protected under conservation easement. Dave grew up at the Ohio Agricultural Research & Development in Wooster where his father managed the dairy farm. Dave is a history buff and is active with the Yellow Springs Historical Society.



 

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Treasurer Tom Ruetenik
 

Tom was raised on a dairy farm in Ashtabula County, Ohio. He graduated from The Ohio State University in 1969 with a B.S. in agriculture, which led him to work at Farm Credit Services for 27 years, and more recently at Security National Bank. He is also active in the Springfield Church of Christ and the Springfield Kiwanis. He, and his wife, Kathy, have  3 children and 7 grandchildren.

Trustee Bob Barcus

Bob is a clinical psychologist, avid organic gardener and dedicated bicyclist. He has worked on organic farms and has been active in land preservation for over 30 years. He is a member of many national and local conservation groups.

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Trustee Gene Barnett

Gene works at the Wright Patterson AFB as a graphics illustrator. He serves on Leadership Clark County, Habitat for Humanity, and the Central "CEDA" Regional Planning Commission Boards. He also volunteers for Springfield City Schools, Center City Design Committee, and serves as a docent for the Frank Lloyd Wright Westcott House. Gene co-manages the Springfield Farmers' Market , and is Co-Chair of the TLT Education Committee.

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Trustee Gordon Cowperthwaite

Gordon is a retired professor of management from Sinclair Community College. An accomplished musician, Gordon played drums for seventeen years with the popular local band, The Rambler Classics. He also serves on the board of Yellow Springs Home Inc.  Now serving his second term, on the TLT board Gordon is active on the education committee, and finds time to donate several hours a week to volunteering in the office.

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Trustee Jennifer Harbage

Jennifer and husband Brian, 2004 Ohio Farm Bureau Young Farmers of the Year, recently preserved their Clark County farm. Jennifer farms and owns her own business, and she and her husband are raising two children. Jennifer brings an understanding of the challenges facing young farmers, and a deep history with Clark County landowners to the board.




 

Trustee Bob Huston

Bob Huston was among the original supporters of the group that became the Tecumseh Land Trust. He is a lifelong resident of Miami Township and is interested in maintaining farmland and the farming community as an economic engine.

He owns and operates his family's foundry business in Xenia.

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Trustee Evelyn LaMers

Evelyn is in her second term as a TLT board member, having served all but 1 year since 1990. For five years she was the board representative to the Yellow Springs Village Council. During that time she was involved in  joint projects with the Village -- the Morris Bean,Welch, and Sutton farms. At various times,  Evelyn has been treasurer, vice president and a member of the executive committee. She co-chaired TLT's first capital campaign that yielded $30,000. Evelyn is a clay artist by trade and is the co-owner of Yellow Springs Pottery that has operated in Yellow Springs for 34 years. Evelyn maintains the scrapbook for the Board and serves as membership chair. She is also on the development committee and is TLT's newsletter editor.

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Trustee Ron Lewis

Ron is a member of the education committee. He has recently preserved his own farm through the Clean Ohio Conservation Fund. Ron, a Greene county native, and he owns and operates an excavation business.

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Trustee Branson Pyles

Branson lives and works on his family's farm, which has been preserved with an easement through the Tecumseh Land Trust. He is active on the land preservation committee and serves as an easement monitor.

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Trustee Anne Randolph

Anne Randolph recalls spending virtually her entire childhood outdoors. "I was outside every minute till it got dark... and then stayed out some more," she recalls.

Randolph, co-chair of the development committe, is that rare gift to a nonprofit board - a member who enjoys raising money. "I love fund-raising," she says. "I like setting goals and working to meet them. And I have no problem asking people to help support causes I really believe in." The Tecumseh Land Trust is one of those causes. She believes firmly that open spaces are important to people's well-being. "Connections with nature are restorative and make people civilized," she maintains. She is co-chair of the Development Committee and is an Auction co-chair as well.

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Trustee Charles Swaney

Charlie is the co-chair of the land preservation committee, and recently donated an easement on his own farm. He is a practicing attorney in Springfield, where he specializes in estate planning and real estate law.

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Trustee Richard Zopf

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Trustee Dave Baird

Dave Baird is a farmer and accountant in Mad River Township. He is Chair of the Finance Committee.

Trustee Rosalie Beers

Rosalie is retired from the Ohio Department of Agriculture, and lives on her family farm in Spring Valley Township. She is Co-Chair of the Education Committee.

Trustee Barbara Rion

Barb Rion is a co-owner of a 165 acre property in Mad River Township. She is Co-Chair of the Development Committee.

Trustee Ilse Tebbetts

Ilse is a professional editor and long time resident of Greene County. She has been a trustee for many years, has edited the newsletter, and is on the Easement Sub-Committee, which formulates our easement language, and is also serving on the Development Committee.

Executive Director Krista Magaw

Krista Magaw, an experienced administrator of nonprofit organizations, became TLT's first executive director in October 2001.

In addition to carrying out day-to-day administrative tasks, Magaw brings  her extensive professional experience in program development, planning, and fund-raising to bear on TLT's increasingly crowded agenda.

Krista earned an undergraduate degree in psychology at the University of Cincinnati and a graduate degree in public policy from Duke University.

Email Krista!

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Associate Director Kate Bush

Kate joined the TLT staff in 2004. She manages special fundraising events, educational outreach, the AEPP application process, and general land preservation in her capacity as associate director.

Kate graduated from Denison University with a degree in environmental studies, and political science.

Email Kate!

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Easement Monitor George Bieri

George grew up in Yellow Springs. During the 30 years that his father taught biology at Antioch, George traveled extensively with him to visit native environments. For eleven months during his college years, George traveled to Mexico, Central America and the Amazon. After returning from Arizona, George enrolled in the Dayton Area in the intensive study of woodworking and cabinetmaking in the school of hard knocks. George and his wife Abby Cobb have five children (ages 10 to 27).

Documentation Specialist Doug Bailey

Doug photographs, researches and drafts the baseline documentation for each of our easements.

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Administrative Assistant Cathy Holcomb

Cathy is the newest addition to TLT's staff. As our Administrative Assistant. She manages a wide variety of our day-to-day tasks, including bookkeeping, database management, and general office support. She is a lifelong resident of the Miami Valley. Cathy currently lives in Springfield, with her husband Jim, their three children, and their various 4-H livestock.

Land Preservation Advisor Julia Cady

Julia Cady is the immediate past-President of the Tecumseh Land Trust. She donated an easement on her family's farm in Clark County, and continues her outstanding educational work on behalf of the land trust with local governments and interested landowners as a volunteer. She also managed the Federal Farm and Ranchland Protection Program application process. She is also a master weaver, and spends her spare time rehabbing old homes to their former glory.

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The Tecumseh Land Trust of Greene and Clark Counties is a private, not-for-profit conservation organization. Its purpose is to preserve agricultural land, open space, and historic structures in voluntary cooperation with landowners and their heirs, and to educate the public about methods of private land conservation. When current Projects are complete, we will have preserved over 12,000 acres in our working area with the support of over 500 members.
Tecumseh Land Trust . . . Preserving our Rural Assets.
www.tecumsehlandtrust.org