The Wayne National Forest is located in the Appalachian part of the US state of

Ohio Ohio ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. It borders Lake Erie to the north, Pennsylvania to the east, West Virginia to the southeast, Kentucky to the southwest, Indiana to the ...

, in the Unglaciated Allegheny Plateau. It is the first and only national forest in Ohio. Forest headquarters are located between The Plains and Nelsonville, Ohio, on US Route 33 overlooking the Hocking River. First referred to as "Ohio National Forest" (unofficially), the Wayne National Forest was later officially named in honor of General Anthony Wayne, an American soldier, officer, statesman, and one of the Founding Fathers of the United States. He served in the

American Revolutionary War The American Revolutionary War (April 19, 1775 – September 3, 1783), also known as the Revolutionary War or American War of Independence, was the armed conflict that comprised the final eight years of the broader American Revolution, in which Am ...

and was later recalled from civilian life by President

George Washington George Washington (, 1799) was a Founding Fathers of the United States, Founding Father and the first president of the United States, serving from 1789 to 1797. As commander of the Continental Army, Washington led Patriot (American Revoluti ...

after

St. Clair's defeat St. Clair's defeat, also known as the Battle of the Wabash, the Battle of Wabash River or the Battle of a Thousand Slain, was a battle fought on 4 November 1791 in the Northwest Territory of the United States. The U.S. Army faced the Northweste ...

to command the Legion of the United States in the

Northwest Indian War The Northwest Indian War (1785–1795), also known by other names, was an armed conflict for control of the Northwest Territory fought between the United States and a united group of Native Americans in the United States, Native American na ...

to gain control of the British controlled ceded

Northwest Territory The Northwest Territory, also known as the Old Northwest and formally known as the Territory Northwest of the River Ohio, was formed from part of the unorganized western territory of the United States after the American Revolution. Established ...

, including the region that is now Ohio. The forest comprises three administrative and purchase units:

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, Marietta, and Ironton. The Athens and Marietta Units are managed together as the Athens Ranger District, while the Ironton Unit is managed as the Ironton Ranger District. Many of the lands included in the national forest are former coal-mining lands, and much of this land is owned by the federal government without the mineral rights, those having been retained by former owners. As of September 2018, Wayne National Forest has in federal ownership within a proclamation boundary of . * The Athens Unit is located in

, Hocking, Morgan,

Perry Perry or pear cider is an alcoholic beverage made from fermented pears, traditionally in England (particularly Gloucestershire, Herefordshire, and Worcestershire), parts of South Wales, France (especially Normandy and Anjou), Canada, Austral ...

, and Vinton Counties, and includes 67,224 acres (272 km²) as of 2002. It features the Wildcat Hollow Trail, a hiking trail just northeast of Burr Oak State Park in Morgan County; the Stone Church Horse Trail in Perry County; the Utah Ridge Recreation Area in Athens County, and the Dorr Run ATV Trails in Hocking County. * The Marietta Unit is located in Monroe, Noble, and Washington Counties, and includes 63,381 acres (256 km²) as of 2002, with over half of the total being within Washington County. * The Ironton Unit is located in Gallia, Jackson, Lawrence, and Scioto Counties, and includes 99,049 acres (401 km²) as of 2002, with over two-thirds of the total being within Lawrence County. The North Country Trail passes through several areas of Wayne, in which it is coincident with the Buckeye Trail and the American Discovery Trail. The area of Ohio included within the national forest is based on late

Paleozoic The Paleozoic ( , , ; or Palaeozoic) Era is the first of three Era (geology), geological eras of the Phanerozoic Eon. Beginning 538.8 million years ago (Ma), it succeeds the Neoproterozoic (the last era of the Proterozoic Eon) and ends 251.9 Ma a ...

geology, heavy in sandstones and shales, including redbeds, with many coal beds. The topography is typically very rugged, with elevation changes typically in the 200–400-foot range.

History

The land on which the forest exists and grows was consigned to the United States by the Northwestern Confederacy in 1795 as part of the Treaty of Greenville; it is in the State of Ohio which was named for an indigenous word translating to "Good River." During the late 18th and 19th century, the forested land was cleared for

agricultural Agriculture encompasses crop and livestock production, aquaculture, and forestry for food and non-food products. Agriculture was a key factor in the rise of sedentary human civilization, whereby farming of domesticated species created f ...

and lumbering use, but years of poor timbering and agricultural practices led to severe erosion and poor soil composition. The Wayne National Forest was started as part of a

reforestation Reforestation is the practice of restoring previously existing forests and woodlands that have been destroyed or damaged. The prior forest destruction might have happened through deforestation, clearcutting or wildfires. Three important purpose ...

program. It was established as a National Forest for the public in December 1992. In 2022, approximately of the forest were burned by fires that were deliberately set by a former fire department administrator and police officer. In 2025, the culprit was sentenced to 18 months in prison and required to pay $368,000 in restitution. On April 4, 2024, the Biden Administration proposed that

fracking Fracking (also known as hydraulic fracturing, fracing, hydrofracturing, or hydrofracking) is a well stimulation technique involving the fracturing of formations in bedrock by a pressurized liquid. The process involves the high-pressure inje ...

be permitted in the forest, a plan which drew widespread criticism. The administration's

Bureau of Land Management The Bureau of Land Management (BLM) is an agency within the United States Department of the Interior responsible for administering federal lands, U.S. federal lands. Headquartered in Washington, D.C., the BLM oversees more than of land, or one ...

announced it would open of the Wayne to fracking for oil and gas. The new proposal, released in late March 2024, is nearly identical to the fracking plan that was blocked in 2020 by a federal judge after conservation groups had challenged it in federal court. On May 23, 2024, The Wayne National Forest planted a Moon Tree sapling at its Forest Headquarters building in Nelsonville, Ohio, as part of an initiative between

NASA The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA ) is an independent agencies of the United States government, independent agency of the federal government of the United States, US federal government responsible for the United States ...

and the U.S. Forest Service. The sweetgum sapling was one of fewer than 1,500 seedlings flown thousands of miles beyond the

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aboard the unmanned Orion spacecraft, spending six weeks in space during NASA’s

Artemis I Artemis I, formerly Exploration Mission-1 (EM-1), was an uncrewed Lunar orbit, Moon-orbiting mission that was launched in November 2022. As the first major spaceflight of NASA's Artemis program, Artemis I marked the agency's return to lunar e ...

mission that had launched on November 16, 2022.

Proposed renaming

On August 21, 2023, the U.S. Forest Service proposed changing the forest's name to "Buckeye National Forest" after considering other names that included "Ohio National Forest" (its first unofficial name) and "Koteewa National Forest" (Shawnee word for Buckeye). Some supporters of changing the name, including the City Council of Athens in an official letter dated September 5, 2023, prefer "Ohio National Forest," or " Pawpaw National Forest" for the official state native fruit, to be chosen instead of "Buckeye National Forest." The change, if adopted by U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack of

Iowa Iowa ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the upper Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. It borders the Mississippi River to the east and the Missouri River and Big Sioux River to the west; Wisconsin to the northeast, Ill ...

, would cost $400,000 to implement. The call to change the name was initiated primarily by American Indian tribes who objected to its namesake of Anthony Wayne. Opposition to changing the name centers on preserving Wayne's impact to Ohio, critiques of pop history (citing Wayne's complexity), and the violence caused by both tribes and settlers.

References

External links

History

Proposed renaming

See also

References

External links