Ohio News
Ohio plans to establish new state forest
AP
DAYTON, Ohio (AP) — A 15,000-acre swath of woodland teeming with bobcats, black bears, rattlesnakes and other wildlife will soon be protected from development as Ohio's first new state forest in more than a decade.
The Ohio Department of Natural Resources said earlier this week the state has tapped mostly private and federal funding to secure a $15.1 million purchase agreement for the Raccoon Ecological Management Area in southeast Ohio's Vinton County, home to the Vinton Furnace Experimental Forest.
The forest is one of the most biologically diverse ecosystems in the country and home to more than 50 years of woodland research, said DNR Director Sean Logan. The state's largest known population of bobcats lives there, as do bears, timber rattlesnakes and cerulean warblers.
"There is no other property like this in Ohio," said David Lytle, head of the DNR's forestry division. "This really is the crown jewel."
Combined with nearby Zaleski State Forest, the acquisition will create a conservation forest parcel of more than 40,000 acres.
"It's one of the last great conservation opportunities in Ohio," said Josh Knights, executive director of the Nature Conservancy's Ohio office.
Vinton Furnace is used by scientists for research, for training by Ohio's $15 billion wood industry and as a destination for hunters.
It has been dedicated to forest research since 1952. The research was formalized between Mead Corp. and the USDA Forest Service in 1965. Mead sold off its forest lands in 2005.
Logan said the property has changed ownership several times over the past four years and that the agreement will forever protect it as an ecological, recreational and economic resource.
Logan said Ohio will soon sign an agreement with the owners of the forest — an investment fund managed by The Forestland Group, LLC — to acquire the 3,250-acre Vinton Furnace Experimental Forest as well as 12,599 surrounding acres known as the Raccoon Ecological Management Area.
The Forestland Group is a North Carolina-based timberland investment management company that manages 3.4 million acres in 20 states.
Next year the department will seek state Controlling Board approval to release $3.9 million in already appropriated funds to match with $11.2 million in private and federal funds to close on the property by July.
The purchase doesn't include mineral rights, but the state and federal government own the rights under a large portion of the property, Lytle said.
One site on the property has been mined for coal and will be reclaimed, he said. Any new mine would have to undergo environmental approvals.
The last time Ohio created a state forest was in December 1998 with the designation of the 1,100-acre Beaver Creek State Forest in northeast Ohio as the 20th state forest.
The Ohio Department of Natural Resources said earlier this week the state has tapped mostly private and federal funding to secure a $15.1 million purchase agreement for the Raccoon Ecological Management Area in southeast Ohio's Vinton County, home to the Vinton Furnace Experimental Forest.
The forest is one of the most biologically diverse ecosystems in the country and home to more than 50 years of woodland research, said DNR Director Sean Logan. The state's largest known population of bobcats lives there, as do bears, timber rattlesnakes and cerulean warblers.
"There is no other property like this in Ohio," said David Lytle, head of the DNR's forestry division. "This really is the crown jewel."
Combined with nearby Zaleski State Forest, the acquisition will create a conservation forest parcel of more than 40,000 acres.
"It's one of the last great conservation opportunities in Ohio," said Josh Knights, executive director of the Nature Conservancy's Ohio office.
Vinton Furnace is used by scientists for research, for training by Ohio's $15 billion wood industry and as a destination for hunters.
It has been dedicated to forest research since 1952. The research was formalized between Mead Corp. and the USDA Forest Service in 1965. Mead sold off its forest lands in 2005.
Logan said the property has changed ownership several times over the past four years and that the agreement will forever protect it as an ecological, recreational and economic resource.
Logan said Ohio will soon sign an agreement with the owners of the forest — an investment fund managed by The Forestland Group, LLC — to acquire the 3,250-acre Vinton Furnace Experimental Forest as well as 12,599 surrounding acres known as the Raccoon Ecological Management Area.
The Forestland Group is a North Carolina-based timberland investment management company that manages 3.4 million acres in 20 states.
Next year the department will seek state Controlling Board approval to release $3.9 million in already appropriated funds to match with $11.2 million in private and federal funds to close on the property by July.
The purchase doesn't include mineral rights, but the state and federal government own the rights under a large portion of the property, Lytle said.
One site on the property has been mined for coal and will be reclaimed, he said. Any new mine would have to undergo environmental approvals.
The last time Ohio created a state forest was in December 1998 with the designation of the 1,100-acre Beaver Creek State Forest in northeast Ohio as the 20th state forest.
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