As co-chair of the Forest and Public Lands committee for the state chapter of the Sierra Club I would welcome anyone who would like to help us in our effort to reduce and eventually eliminate logging on all state forests in Ohio. Seeing that less than 2% of timber harvested in Ohio comes from public lands there is essentially no reason for this to occur other. Sierra Club is an all volunteer organization and there are only a few of us currently working to protect Ohio's 22 state forests and one national forest from logging, fracking and other extractive activities. We most recently finished up a species inventory of a critical area in Shawnee State Forest, Rock Run, that was proposed for logging over a year ago. We will be presenting our findings to the Chief of the Division of Forestry next month with the hope that Rock Run will receive High Conservation Value Area status. We would like to follow up this effort with similar efforts in other areas of the state under attack. This is a chance for citizen science to show it's value to the conservation effort. If you'd like to get involved we would welcome your support. Please feel free to email me at [log in to unmask] Regards, Dave Ackerman On Sun, Aug 20, 2017 at 10:30 AM, Cheryl Harner < [log in to unmask]> wrote: > Dear Fellow Bird Enthusiasts, > > Speaking as Conservation Chair for the Ohio Ornithological Society, we > take the conservation of birds pretty seriously. Sometimes that even > requires our speaking up for trees. Unfortunately, OOS members have > experienced first-hand some questionable work in the past by Ohio Division > of Forestry. Remember our members’ dismay over cuts in Shawnee Forest (at > Picnic Point), at Hocking Hills (a clear-cut at the trail leading into a > State Nature Preserve) and the cutting of pine for the pulp wood industry > at the Historic Gorge Overlook in Mohican. Forestry often cites “forest > health” as their reason for cuts, but their past actions speak louder than > their words. > > As a birding society, Ohio Ornithological Society has spoken out before: > we are not against the timber industry or the timbering of private lands. > However, some of our public lands have suffered from poor judgment in the > selection of timber cuts by the Ohio Division of Forestry. We believe in > this century, public forests should be considered as ecosystems and weight > be placed on biodiversity over timber utility alone. There is no shortage > of timber, pallets, or pulpwood in Ohio. If we never cut another stick of > lumber off our Ohio Public Lands, the private timber industry in Ohio > –currently producing 97% of Ohio’s timber products- is providing all the we > need. > > Division of Forestry is currently holding Open Houses for their State > Forests. For more information about those, cut and paste this address into > your web browser: > http://www.outdoornews.com/2017/08/17/act-now-help-manage-state-forests/ > > Meanwhile, please note naturalists and the local community have great > concerns over the sweeping changes in the plans for Mohican Forest. While > much of the restoration of Mohican was done by planting non-native pines > nearly a century ago, those novel ecosystems now offer habitat for nesting > warblers and winter finches- as frequently noted on this list serve. > Perhaps, it is time to change our Mohican management plan towards more > recreation, like birding, and less toward industrial forestry. > > If you enjoy bird watching in Mohican, perhaps you will be moved to speak > up for habitat preservation, too. > > Mohican-Memorial State Forest Open House > Monday, August 21, 2017 from 4:30-6:30 pm > Mohican Lodge and Conference Center > 1098 Ashland County Road 3006 > Perrysville, OH 44864 > > > Thank you, > Cheryl Harner > OOS Conservation Chair > > --- > This email has been checked for viruses by Avast antivirus software. > https://www.avast.com/antivirus > > ______________________________________________________________________ > > Ohio-birds mailing list, a service of the Ohio Ornithological Society. > Please consider joining our Society, at www.ohiobirds.org/site/ > membership.php. > Our thanks to Miami University for hosting this mailing list. > > > You can join or leave the list, or change your options, at: > listserv.miamioh.edu/scripts/wa.exe?LIST=OHIO-BIRDS > Send questions or comments about the list to: [log in to unmask] > ______________________________________________________________________ Ohio-birds mailing list, a service of the Ohio Ornithological Society. Please consider joining our Society, at www.ohiobirds.org/site/membership.php. Our thanks to Miami University for hosting this mailing list. You can join or leave the list, or change your options, at: listserv.miamioh.edu/scripts/wa.exe?LIST=OHIO-BIRDS Send questions or comments about the list to: [log in to unmask]