Natural Resources - Forests

Ohio's 21 state forests comprise 191,000 acres (0.7% of Ohio's land base) and the Wayne National Forest comprises 234,000 acres (0.8% of Ohio's land base).

While small in percentage, these public areas are critical because they provide the state with larger tracts of contiguous forestland than typically found on private land. Thus, public lands provide an opportunity to preserve and restore healthy and diverse forest ecosystems, while providing for species habitat and low-impact recreational opportunities.

The Ohio Division of Forestry (DOF), the agency responsible for Ohio's state forests, significantly under-reports the costs associated with its logging activities. Moreover, DOF's accounting practices lack transparency.

Hidden behind this lack of transparency is the fact that Ohio taxpayers are not reaping a fiscal reward but rather are subsidizing DOF's logging of state forests. These findings were revealed in the recently released Shawnee State Forest Economic Study, which was commissioned by the Buckeye Forest Council, the Ohio Environmental Council, the Sierra Club Ohio Chapter, and Voices for the Forest.

• Program costs reported by DOF between 1997-2007 for management of state forest timber harvests and logging were not anywhere near actual costs. This skewed accounting makes it appear that timber harvests on state forest land are beneficial to taxpayers when in fact they are a fiscal drag on taxpayers. 
• In some cases, DOF managers failed to account for the cost of most everything except payroll expenses, excluding such obvious costs as equipment, fuel, and controlled burns to regenerate oak growth-one of the highest valued timber species.
• Because of accounting omissions, state payments to counties, townships, and local public schools from the proceeds of state timber sales are actually subsidized by taxpayers through the state general fund.
• Private forest owners can easily supply the amount of wood produced by Ohio's state forests, which would likely stimulate job growth in the private sector.
• Felling the wasteful state timber harvest program is an opportunity to reduce the size of government and reduce needless spending.

Managing state forests for biological and recreational services instead of timber production is a high-benefit commodity that cannot be provided by the private sector or most private landowners.

State forests are uniquely situated to provide one of the most endangered ecosystem habitats in the eastern United States: large tracts of un-fragmented interior forestlands.

For more information about Ohio's forests, visit the Buckeye Forest Council website.