As warmer weather approaches, many Ohioans are looking to the outdoors for leisure and recreational activities.
Ohio State Parks become increasingly popular during the spring and summer seasons because of outdoor activities such as fishing, camping and hiking.
In addition, Ohio State Parks offer a variety of wildlife and nature that provide a peaceful, naturalistic environment as a change of pace for Ohioans accustomed to city life.
As reported by local media, Tim Snyder, preserve manager for the Ohio Department of Natural Resources, said Ohio’s nature preserve system is designed to protect what is left of Ohio’s natural environment and to show what the land was like when pioneers first moved to Ohio.
In any one of Ohio’s 74 state parks and 126 state nature preserves, a variety of wildlife exists. Park visitors can witness wildlife in its natural habitat from the rare orchids and sightings of bobcats and black bears in Shawnee State Park in Portsmouth, to the migrating songbirds and several nesting pairs of bald eagles in Middle Bass Island State Park near Port Clinton.
However, what usually remains unseen are the methods and efforts put forth that allow for the wildlife to exist.
Lynn Boydelatour, chief naturalist for Ohio State Parks, said the Ohio Division of Parks and Recreation works with the Division of Wildlife to identify the best strategies to deal with wildlife management on a park by park basis.
All of the state parks must comply with state wildlife laws, including pollution laws that are regulated by the Environmental Protection Agency, Boydelatour said.
Individual state parks also implement their own regulations on activities such as hunting and trapping, only allowing activities in specific areas of a park and in some cases limiting to certain seasons or times of day.
Other areas are restricted from basic maintenance because of the specific habitat required, such as habitats forground-nesting birds and other wildlife that require unmowed fields, said Boydelatour, who produced and distributed 200 signs reading “Wildlife Diversity Area” and “Restricted Mowing” to the state parks.
The use of pesticides is also limited in the state parks.
“We minimize the use of any kinds of pesticides to control such evasive species of insects as the gypsy moth and prohibit use of aquatic herbicides to control weeds except by permit issued by the division and within EPA guidelines,” Boydelatour said.
Dan Huss, wildlife management supervisor of the Ohio Division of Wildlife, said the Division of Wildlife also conserves wildlife areas by actively managing the area.
“We don’t just put up a chain link fence around an area and walk away from it and never come back,” Huss said. “If you leave an area, trees will invade and the birds and other animals that utilize open space will disappear.”
Through habitat restoration and active management, the Division of Wildlife has been successful in making a difference for some species of lower numbers in Ohio, such as the peregrine falcon and bald eagle.
“In 1979 there were only four nesting pairs of bald eagles, and now there are 87 nesting pairs,” Huss said. “The goal was only to have 20 pairs by the year 2000.”
In addition to rules, regulations and wildlife management, Ohio citizens have also contributed to conserving wildlife in Ohio.
Proceeds from the sales of cardinal and bald eagle license plates have been used for projects benefiting Ohio’s endangered species. Funds have been used to purchase land, including 40 acres of land near Pickerel Creek State Wildlife Area near Sandusky, and to restore natural habitats.
“Wildlife areas are created to benefit wildlife species to benefit the people,” Huss said.
However, the efforts of the Division of Parks and Recreation and Division of Wildlife will likely not make an impact statewide.
Because 98 percent of the land in Ohio is privately owned, Huss said it is necessary to influence private land owners to make a significant difference.
