Ohio’s state forests and the future of Buckeye Trail management

Ohio’s State Forests: Managing for the Future

When trekking the 1,450-mile Buckeye Trail, hikers will experience Ohio’s wide range of terrains and forests. More than a third of the trail passes through properties maintained by the Ohio Department of Natural Resources (ODNR), primarily areas managed by the Division of Parks and Watercraft, Division of Natural Areas and Preserves, Division of Wildlife, and Division of Forestry (DOF). Approximately 80 miles of the trail pass through Ohio State Forests.

While each division manages their properties for different objectives, the DOF manages for multiple goals, which include sustainable timber production, wildlife habitat, soil and water protection, carbon sequestration, and recreation. Management techniques to achieve these goals require long-term planning and an active role in the landscape that creates a diversity of forest age, structure, and species composition for forest dwellers and hikers passing through.

A home for recreation and nature

Recreationally, the DOF provides an array of activities for all visitors. With the Buckeye Trail, there are ~600 miles of hiking, equestrian, APV, and mountain biking trails in state forests. This includes three overnight backpack trails, ranging from 20 to 46 miles long. The Ohio State Forest system offers family and horse campgrounds, remote park & pack camp sites, four shooting ranges, an 8,000-acre wilderness area, and historic fire towers throughout the state.

Other popular activities that take place in the forests are fishing, mushroom hunting, rock climbing, birdwatching, and hunting. Managing for healthy wildlife populations goes hand-in-hand with sustainable timber production. Many songbird and wildlife species require a diversity of forest ages, species compositions, and vertical structures to satisfy habitat requirements, and proper sciencebased forest management will create that diversity through harvests. Harvests mimic natural disturbances and create young, “early-successional,” forests that provide critical foraging and breeding habitat for birds and other wildlife.

Beyond the clearcut: regeneration

In Ohio, clearcut forests respond quickly with rapid growth of trees and shrubs from the seed banks and stump sprouts—planting trees is not necessary. These brushy areas are extremely productive for fruit-producing shrubs as well as insects, which make them highly attractive as foraging sites for birds, bats, and other wildlife. The amount of young forest in Ohio continues to decrease as forests mature, and regenerating harvests are necessary to maintain and increase this critical habitat.

While these harvests are essential and alluring to wildlife, they are not always aesthetically appealing or physically kind to humans. Initially following a harvest there is a short period where the area may look bare while the newly released or established vegetation develops in preparation for its accension to Shelterwood harvest at Brush Creek State Forest. It will not be long before the young regrowth fills the area with a wide variety of plants so thick that it is difficult for humans to navigate, not to mention the presence of thorns.

For the first decade or two following a regeneration harvest, the environment is harsh for humans, but ideal for many wildlife species that need that dense cover for food and protection from predators. In addition to the creation of young forests for wildlife, the DOF also promotes the continued presence of oak forests, which are a high-value forest type for wildlife, the economy, a changing climate, and carbon sequestering.

Oaks are considered “foundation species” that provide mast (nuts) and habitat for approximately 100 bird and mammal species, as well as habitat for insects, which represent the base of forest food chains. These forests are established and perpetuated by disturbances, natural or human-caused, that create openings in the forest canopy. This means that these forests require “disturbance”—active management—such as timber harvests and prescribed burns to maintain an oak presence. Due to the lack of fire, insufficient disturbance, and inappropriate harvests, tree species that can tolerate more shade have become a larger component of Ohio’s forests and are threatening to replace oaks into the future.

Constant management

This requires the DOF to continuously monitor and practice management techniques to enhance the competitiveness of oak seedlings. Harvests not only maintain wildlife habitat and oak forests but also provide wood needed to create products such as furniture, flooring, paper, and bourbon barrels. DOF timber harvests contribute to Ohio’s $27 billion dollar forest industry, which employs more than 132,400 people.

In addition, the DOF’s Treesto-Textbook program returns a portion of the revenue received from timber harvests to the counties, townships, and school districts in which the harvests take place. To date, the program has provided more than $35 million to those local governments. All timber harvests on state forestlands are performed by Certified Master Loggers, and best management practices for erosion control (best management practices, or BMPs) are applied to ensure the quick recovery of disturbed soil. All harvests and state forests are certified by the Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) and the Sustainable Forestry Initiative (SFI), third-party organizations that ensure forests are being managed responsibly and sustainably, based on the latest science.

When hiking through Ohio’s state forests, keep an eye out for management activities and think about how these practices may benefit the flora and fauna of the forest. The DOF envisions healthy, diverse forests valued for the life-sustaining benefits they provide now and forever. Maintaining diversity in Ohio’s forests is a critical piece of managing for the future.