Shocking Changes Underway at Hazel Willis Woods

These days when I think about the Ashland Soil and Water Conservation District’s (SWCD) Hazel Willis Woods, all I can hear is the Electric Slide playing in my head. Big changes are in progress at our outdoor learning laboratory, and as you might guess from the title: it’s electric!

Demonstrating how to measure a tree at a Forestry Field Day at the Hazel Willis Woods

Since Ashland SWCD was gifted the 40-acre Hazel Willis Woods in 1980, many things have changed, but the basics have remained unchanged. Walter Willis gifted this facility to Ashland SWCD in memory of his wife Hazel to be used as an outdoor learning laboratory and is managed as a working woodland.

In the 1980s, the woods played host to countless school children on field trips, learning about woodlands, nature and wildlife in the great outdoors. However, the economic downturn of 2008 and 2009 brought many schools’ frequent field trips to a screeching halt. And at the same time, economic shortfalls bought massive budget cuts to Ashland SWCD and staff. As a result, the woods saw fewer and fewer visitors over the years.

6th graders from Edison Elementary visit the Hazel Willis Woods in 1984

Then in 2021, the 5-member Ashland SWCD board sought community support and input to develop a strategic plan to increase utilization of the woods. Among those early priority recommendations were bringing new partners into the Hazel Willis Woods compliance committee, assessing harvest recommendations including educational plots and demonstration areas showing different forest management practices, establishing and maintaining permanent property line boundaries, and developing natural parking and improved accessibility for the woods.

Since that time, we’ve worked hard to implement many of of these recommendations, Garrett Houin from Boy Scout Troop 356 led an Eagle Scout project to improve safety and accessibility at the woods by installing solar lighting, game cameras, painting and building steps for the outhouses, and clearing trails.
We’ve updated our facility map and through the help of the Ashland County Community Foundation we’ve installed a privacy fence along our entrance and drive to improve security and safety for visitors to the woods and hosted a year-round nature journaling class and an Ohio Certified Volunteer Naturalist (OCVN) class.

Garrett & Craig Houin of Boy Scout Troop 356 showing off the new steps at the Hazel Willis Wood outhouse.

With the help of our OCVN volunteers, we’ve began a wildflower inventory and hosted annual wildflower walks in the woods. We’ve hosted seasonal photo walks and family photo sessions. And played host to the Not So Spooky Forest educational event for families.

And early this spring, we completed our first selective harvest in over 15 years. Harvest focused on removing mature trees from along the driveway to help pave the way for potential parking areas, widen the road to improve access, and proactively prevent trees from falling across the drive—a common issue in the past that made regular access a constant challenge. We also included a feathered widening of the loop road area that circles the main area of the learning laboratory for that same reason.

A small clearcut area at the intersection of the loop and cabin roads was also included in the harvest to demonstrate that harvest technique and provide a look at the early successional habitat it creates. A few trees were also girdled for demonstration purposes as well.

But one of the most exciting opportunities the harvest provided was the ability to trench in electric service to the cabin and pavilion center at the woods. Electrical access is a true game-changer when it comes to the types of programs and activities we can host at the woods.

In the meantime, we’ve created a new online guestbook for visitors and have plans underway to host a Habitat Stewardship series of Conservation Chats in 2025. Our June event will focus on rain gardens and gardening for wildlife, our September event will feature invasive plants and habitat restoration, and in November we’ll cover tree topics and a volunteer project.

We’re excited to continue workiing on these vital improvement projects at the Hazel Willis Woods to provide even more educational opportunities and experiences to Ashland area residents and visitors.

For questions on the Hazel Willis Woods or to learn more about how you can volunteer at the woods, contact Ashland SWCD Natural Resources Assistant Holly Hale at hollyswcd@gmail.com