Barbara Lund, a longtime Adams County resident who served as the de facto environmental conscience of Adams County passed away last week. She was 85 years old.
Born and raised in Portland, Oregon, she attended college at the University of Florida and transferred to Cornell where she received her degree in biology. She later worked for the National Park Service with assignments in Oregon, Utah, Arizona, and the National Mall in Washington, D.C. Lund spent decades advocating for Shawnee Forest and always worked to ask the tough questions of the Ohio Department of Natural Resources. In 2009, Lund was awarded the Hellbender Award for her efforts to protect the Shawnee Forest.
Director of Tourism Tom Cross shared his feelings on social media over the weekend. “She was credited with discovering a rare plant in Shawnee Forest that had not been seen before. Ms. Lund spent a lot of time in Shawnee recording the various plants and wildflowers. Today the world feels a little more empty and the wildlife and wildflowers of Shawnee Forest lost a true friend.”
Lund was known for writing Letters to the Editor in many area publications, including the Informer. She successfully advocated for changes at the state level with the Ohio Department of Natural Resources and oftentimes, took the state government to task for prescribed burning and other measures. Lund was submitting story ideas and news releases to this publication as late as two weeks ago. One of her releases, sadly for the final time, appears in this edition.
