ASHLAND — Adrienne Krizan and five other birders from around the area walked quietly through the woods on a rainy Earth Day when a sudden spark of inspiration prompted a thought.
“It’s hard to be in a bad mood when you’re just out listening for …” her voice trailed.
Everyone knew what she meant.
The small group of birders from the Greater Mohican Audubon Society visited Byers Woods along County Road 1754 on Saturday for a regular bird walk.
As passionate bird watchers, they were there to identify as many birds as they could. (And they did, around 40 various species in fact.) But the group’s gathering was more than that; they listened to the wind’s effect on the budding branches, the squirrel’s paws scratching up a walnut tree, the lulling squish-squishing of boots in mud.
The sounds, sights and smells — it was all part of the experience that this tight-knit flock of bird watchers sought each time they visit places like Byers Woods.
Something else was on their minds on this particular Saturday.
As the group walked around Byers Woods’ paved paths, some tried to imagine the park with solar panels on the mounds of green grass that from 1970 to 1997 served as Ashland County’s landfill. Since its closing, the county has been responsible for monitoring ground water and explosive gases that seep from the mounds at a yearly cost of around $80,000 to $90,000.
In March, a representative from CEP Renewables approached county commissioners with a proposal: use around 60 acres of the mounds as a canvas on which to place 15 megawatts of solar panels.
The plan would rake in an estimated $1.2 million to $1.8 million over 20 years. And that’s not counting the nearly $105,000 per year in property tax revenue. In other words, the solar panels would cover the county’s yearly cost to monitor the site — and then some.
To Tim Leslie, president of the Greater Mohican Audubon Society since 1999, it’s a simple conundrum that can be explained by one word.
“It’s greed,” he said, facing a westward panorama of the east mound.
Leslie joined the fellow birders on Saturday. He carried a small notepad, where he jotted each species of bird he either saw or heard.
“Everything in this country’s gone to greed, you know? If you can make a buck, you do it. That’s what scares me. I’m afraid they’ll do it.” Leslie said.
His cynicism evaporated quickly. He spotted a killdeer flying overhead, and then a male bluebird perched on one of the park’s many wooden bird boxes.
Eventually, Ashland County Commissioner Denny Bittle joined the birders. He and his colleagues were invited by Christina Stump just two weeks prior during her presentation about the solar panels’ impact on bobolinks and other wildlife there.
Although he did not mention the project for the brief time he spent with them, he became enamored with the group’s knowledge of birds during the walk.
“Good Lord, you guys are amazing,” he said as the group peered through binoculars to spot a yellow rumped warbler frisking through thick branches in the woods. “All I see are leaves.”
Commissioners have not made decisions regarding the solar panel project. Shortly after CEP’s presentation, the three of them, along with Ashland County Solid Waste Coordinator Jim Skora, took a field trip to Brooklyn, Ohio. The Cuyahoga County city is host to one of CEP’s solar fields.
Bittle called that trip a “good experience.” He’s encouraged residents to reach out to him, Jim Justice and Mike Welch to offer feedback as they wade through information. He said the commissioners are still months away from making a decision.
In the meantime, birders, hikers, tree huggers, tree climbers and good ole park goers will continue to do what they do best: go outside and listen for …
