The largest block of protected forest in Ohio could result from the latest efforts of The Nature Conservancy, a global nonprofit organization that already has preserved 117 million acres of woodlands and streams around the world.

The goal of the Ohio Chapter of the Conservancy is to connect the 14,000-acre Edge of Appalachia Preserve, located along the Ohio River in Adams County, with 63,000-acre Shawnee State Forest, much of which is located in Scioto County beginning a few miles to the west.

The plan is to purchase a 6,000-acre corridor of forest lands linking the preserve and the forest. If completed, the 83,000-acre track would indeed be the largest consolidated block of protected land in the Buckeye state, said Denise Franz King, Government Relations director for the conservancy’s Ohio Chapter, located in the village of Lynx.

She said the private conservancy is using a $1 million private donation and a recently received $750,000 grant to buy land in the corridor. It has reached an agreement to purchase 67 acres and is negotiating to buy another 200.

The grant money alone should provide for purchase of about 650 acres.

To complete the connection would cost nearly $12 million. It might take as long as six to eight years to do that, she said.

The Edge, located about 40 miles west of Portsmouth, was begun 50 years ago when donations from Cincinnati gardening clubs were used to preserve the first 42 acres.

Josh Knights, executive director of Ohio chapter, said the forest lands being purchased have met praise from groups who design trails and who are avid hikers and bird watchers.

That area also is home for imperiled animals like the Indiana bat, the Allegheny woodrat and the green salamander.

More than 100 rare plant and animal species make their homes within the preserve system, officials said.

The preserve already has seven miles of hiking trails and there are hundreds of miles of trails in Shawnee State Forest.

To reach the Edge of Appalachia Preserve office from the Portsmouth area, take U.S. 52 six miles west to turn right on Ohio 125 and follow that to Lynx. The preserve office is located at 4274 Waggoner Riffle Road, about 1.2 miles south of Ohio 125.

To visit The Wilderness Preserve, follow Ohio SR 125 into Lynx, then turn left onto Lynx Rd. Turn left onto the first gravel road, Shivener, and proceed until the parking lot.

The public access to the Buzzardroost Rock trail is a small parking lot on Weaver Road, which is entered from Ohio 125 just west of Lynx. The trail begins at the parking lot and crosses south over the highway and continues on.

• To visit Lynx Prairie, follow SR 125 into Lynx, then turn right (south) onto Tulip Road. The first driveway on the left is East Liberty Church. Public access to Lynx Prairie is available from a trail beginning in the southeast corner of the cemetery.

• The public access to the Buzzardroost Rock trail is a small parking lot on Weaver Road, which is entered from SR 125 just west of Lynx. The trail begins at the parking lot and crosses south over the highway and continues on.

G. SAM PIATT can be reached at (740) 353-3101, ext. 236.