The Friends of Strouds Run is a nonprofit organization that works in partnership with Strouds Run State Park in Athens County, Ohio. The organization operates out of Athens, Ohio. The Friends has nonprofit IRS 501 (c) (3) tax status, so contributions are deductible to the extent allowed by law. The organization was an outgrowth of the Strouds Run Task Force, convened by Ric Abel, mayor of Athens, Ohio, in 2005 to investigate the City’s assuming the ownership and operation of the park. When that effort ended, many of the task force members elected to continue their efforts to advocate for and support the park by forming a “Friends” organization. Such organizations already exist at many Ohio state parks. The Friends was incorporated in mid-2007. Strouds Run is a 2,606-acre Ohio state park that features a 161-acre lake, Dow Lake. Most of the land is densely forested, rugged hills, with many bluffs, rock outcrops and rockhouses. Several spots in the park’s forest are mature hardwood forest, even approaching old-growth status. The park began life as the Athens State Forest, with acquisition of land beginning in the mid-1940s. Dow Lake was opened in the early 1960s.
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