By CELESTE BAUMGARTNER
Ohio Correspondent

COLUMBUS, Ohio — The Ohio Department of Natural Resources (DNR) Division of Natural Areas and Preserves (DNAP) is comprised of places such as Mentor Marsh, Cedar Bog, Goll Woods and Blackhand Gorge, which are of special statewide significance because they are survivors of past times.
But DNAP cannot survive the tight economy.

“We’re in a situation where there is very little money, so the decision was made at high levels to shift funds to higher, visible divisions like the Division of Parks And Recreation,” said Guy Denny, a former chief of DNAP. “With this new budget bill, as of July 1, unless an amendment is changed, the DNAP as a statutory division of DNR will go out of existence.”

The goal is to find a way to keep the system alive for now, until the economy turns around, Denny said. He and others who care deeply about these areas are striving to do this; one attempt will be to find other land-managing agencies to take on as many of the nature preserves as possible.
“Many of the state nature preserves are already owned and operated by entities other than the state,” Denny said. “They’re dedicated state nature preserves, but they’re not necessarily owned or operated by ODNR.”
At those sites – many of which were once or may still be part of a farm – that aren’t accessible to any other land-managing agencies, the facilities won’t be maintained and invasive species will become a problem and the trails will become overgrown, he said.

“These places have been around for thousands of years, so they won’t be lost, but they won’t be as high quality or as accessible to visitors as they have been since they’ve been managed as state nature preserves,” Denny said.
The group, which is trying to save what he calls “these natural gems of the state,” wants to have the language in the budget bill amended so that even though the division would not be fully staffed, it would not be eliminated. If that happens, it is unlikely it would ever be restored.

It wants to keep the Natural Areas checkoff fund rather than have it become a State Parks checkoff with some funds going to natural areas. A volunteer working advisory council could be established. Members would be appointed by the governor and they would receive no reimbursement – unpaid employees.
This would allow former managers, such as Denny, to work on the preserves. Volunteers from groups such as Master Gardeners have expressed an interest in maintaining nearby sites.

“We think we can find people like that who will keep these places going,” Denny said. “Nature preserves are not state parks, they’re not picnic areas; they’re set up for scientific and educational purposes, to give people an idea of the natural legacy of Ohio so they can see an old growth forest, a bog, just as it existed when the glaciers were here.

“What many people don’t understand is that you can take a piece of fallow farmland, create a lake, give it enough time, plant some trees, it can be a nice-looking state park,” he added. “But you don’t ‘make’ a state nature preserve.”