Tammy Miller
Two-hundred years ago, when the first settlers resided in the area, Pickerington was completely covered in biodiverse trees – oak, redbud, buckeye and crabapple to name a few species. However, settlers soon began to cut down chunks of the forest to create farmland to feed their families. Now, environmentalist couple David Hague and Tammy Miller are determined to completely replant their land’s trees and conserve the remaining acres of untouched forest.
Hague always knew he wanted to own land, and when Miller found a 96-acre property off of Pickerington Road in 2005, they thought, ‘Why not make it ours?’
After hearing coyotes howling at night, they decided to call the land Coyote Run. Since then, the couple has acquired more land, including the land under the historic Tabernacle, expanding to more than 900 acres. However, Hague says he and Miller don’t feel like owners of the property. Instead, they say they are only guests who are the current caretakers.
A big step towards meeting that responsibility was designating more than 230 acres of the property as Ohio’s 140th state nature reserve in 2021.
The reserve is strictly private property, but Hague enjoys when friends at Fairfield County Parks and Fairfield Soil & Water Conservation, students and researchers from The Ohio State University, Pickerington Local School District students, Pickerington Library programmers, local youth organizations, and other community groups show interest in visiting Coyote Run for educational and service projects. Additionally, the couple and their community partners host educational events, public hikes, outdoor games and bird watching, and Hague allows in-season, licensed, responsible deer hunting to curve the species’ over-population.
Tammy Miller
Coyote Run’s future is somewhat up in the air. Hague and Miller do not have children, and while Hague says he will continue to work on the land “until he drops dead,” they want to find a future caretaker who will agree to keep the land a conservation area after they pass.
Hague emphasizes that his focus isn’t on how the land could be used for human interests but how it can foster a healthy home for the wildlife.
Hague frequently offers volunteer opportunities, such as an upcoming Earth Day tree planting event, for those interested. You can find more information bout Coyote Run, including news and events on its Facebook page @CoyoteRunOhio.
Maisie Fitzmaurice is an editor at CityScene Media Group. Feedback welcome at mfitzmaurice@cityscenemediagroup.com.
