Please, let’s not pave over this sparkling gem
Expanding the Dayton regional economy is vitally important, but attracting new jobs shouldn’t come at the expense of the incredible natural area that is the Aullwood Audubon, Aullwood Garden MetroPark, and the Paul E. Knoop Jr. Prairie.
Some 80,000 people visit Aullwood each year, and thousands drink Aullwood’s well water every year. Forty-thousand of these visitors are children who play in Wiles Creek and in the surrounding woods and wetlands.
I was one of those children. I grew up in Troy and like so many others, I owe my love of nature in no small part to Aullwood and to Paul Knoop and his wife, Cathy. Paul was with Aullwood from the start. He began volunteering in 1957, was hired as a naturalist-teacher in 1959, and later became Aullwood’s director and director of education, retiring in 1994.
Today, the Knoops are living legends among naturalists in the region, continuing to educate children and educators alike. He and Cathy are two of my heroes.
The sprawling field of native wildflowers at Paul E. Knoop Jr. Prairie plays a key role in the ecological health of the region. It hosts countless butterflies and buzzing bees. It soaks up rainfall, and it purifies drinking water for thousands of children visiting Aullwood Audubon Center and Farm, one of the first nature centers in the Midwest and a much beloved local treasure.
And yet, the city of Dayton and Dayton International Airport have chosen Knoop Prairie as the build site for a million-squarefoot manufacturing facility — jeopardizing the future of Aullwood.
Knoop Prairie is one of the oldest and largest prairie reconstructions in Ohio. Knoop and the late Marie Aull, known by many as the “godmother of the environmental movement in the Miami Valley,” hand planted the beginnings of the prairie in 1995. Fast forward nearly 25 years and the now well-established Knoop Prairie supports Wiles Creek’s high water quality, provides critical habitat for declining populations of pollinators, and inspires all who hike, picnic, and enjoy the land.
Perhaps most importantly, the prairie functions like a giant sponge ─ the absorbent roots of established prairie plants can penetrate 12 feet below the soil’s surface. One acre of established prairie can absorb nine inches of rainfall per hour before runoff occurs, and will intercept as much as 53 tons of water during a 1-inch per hour rain event. Replacing some 110 acres of prairie headwater with impervious concrete, asphalt, and retention pond would do massive damage to the natural integrity of this site and would be devastating to Wiles Creek and Aullwood. No amount of on-site mitigation measures could change that.
Paul and Cathy Knoop built an impressive ecological legacy. They have touched so many, and instilled a love for the natural world in countless people. This legacy carries on through me as I’ve pursued a career in environmental advocacy. I’m passing the Knoop and Aullwood legacy onto my young son, too. My family and I enjoy spending as much of our time together as possible in the outdoors. I hope that future generations will inherit the sort of intact and pristine Aullwood that I was blessed to experience as a child. I hope my son will get to play in a cold and clear Wiles Creek.
I urge Dayton’s city manager, airport officials, and the developer to relocate the proposed facility to a more suitable location. Aullwood is a sparkling gem of the Miami Valley. It can and must be protected.