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The Columbus Dispatch
www.dispatch.com
Bill would put hold on federal land purchases within
forest
Michael Hawthorne
Tuesday, September 12, 2000
Four months after state lawmakers voted overwhelmingly
to ask voters for $400 million to preserve open space, build
hiking trails and support other environmental programs,
they are poised to block the Wayne National Forest from
purchasing land for the same purposes.
A House-approved bill pending before the Senate Energy,
Natural Resources and Environment Committee would place
a four-year moratorium on land purchases by the U.S. Forest
Service within the Wayne's boundaries in southeast Ohio.
Hearings on the bill begin Wednesday.
The measure's backers, led by Rep. Nancy P. Hollister,
R-Marietta, say they are angry that timber cutting and development
of oil and gas wells within the forest have ground to a
virtual standstill.
Supporters also contend tax-exempt land in the Wayne is
a cash drain for the region's school districts, though an
analysis of local tax data prepared by the Forest Service
disputes their claims.
Lawmakers apparently haven't been swayed by the analysis,
which concluded the Wayne accounts for less than 3 percent
of the assessed property value in each of the 12 counties
within the forest.
"I'm a firm believer in state and federal governments
owning a lot of land,'' Sen. James E. Carnes, a St. Clairsville
Republican who chairs the committee considering the Wayne
bill, said yesterday. "But I have a real concern when
we are destroying the tax base in these communities.''
Environmental groups argue that Hollister, Carnes and others
are stoking criticism of the federal government to divert
attention from the inability of lawmakers to tackle Ohio's
school-funding problems.
The real issue driving the bill's proponents, environmentalists
say, is a legal fight over how the forest should be managed.
Lawsuits by environmental groups, and the discovery of
the endangered Indiana bat on Forest Service property, have
stopped timber cutting and slowed oil and gas production,
curbing what once were mainstays of the local economy.
"If the Wayne National Forest was harvesting timber,
I don't think we would hear a peep from Nancy Hollister
about this,'' said Jason Tockman, coordinator of the Buckeye
Forest Council, one of the groups that filed suit.
The Forest Service owns 229,000 acres scattered throughout
12 counties. Officials who manage the Wayne want to purchase
another 93,000 acres to create larger tracts, making the
forest more attractive to hikers, bikers, hunters, campers
and off-road-vehicle owners.
Lawmakers, including Hollister and Carnes, embraced those
same goals during the spring when they approved a $400 million
environmental bond issue proposed by Gov. Bob Taft. If voters
approve the issue Nov. 7, some of the money would be used
to preserve green space and develop trails around the state.
Hollister said earlier this summer that she introduced
her bill because federal officials haven't listened to local
leaders' concerns. The bill would suspend a 1934 state law
that gave the federal government permission to buy land
in Ohio.
Her moratorium on land purchases would replace a temporary
one tacked on to congressional spending bills in recent
years.
"The forest is very much a part of this area,'' Hollister
said. "We should be able to come together and agree
on a comprehensive plan for its future.''
Opponents contend the bill would interfere with efforts
to make the area a more attractive destination for tourists,
depriving the economically depressed region of a much-needed
boost.
Charlotte Wachtel, who along with her husband owns 230
acres of rolling farm fields and steep woodlands near Amesville
in Athens County, said land-sale decisions should be left
to landowners.
"The Wayne doesn't force people to sell their land,''
Wachtel said. "We don't want the state to limit our
property rights.''
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