PERRYSVILLE — The Ohio Department of Natural Resources’ Forest Advisory Council chose Thursday to hold off on a vote on the Division of Forestry’s proposed management plan for Mohican-Memorial State Forest.

Before voting on a plan that would rezone the forest and allow pine thinning in some areas, the council members want to see a series of modifications, several of which were based on concerns from the public.

ODNR officials say the plan is designed to reduce the number of non-native pines and allow for more native hardwoods to grow in the forest, resulting in greater biodiversity. Opponents of what the Division of Forestry has termed the “Restoring Native Hardwoods Initiative” have argued the plan does not do enough to protect the forest from adverse effects of logging and invasive species, and that it was developed by foresters who see commercial logging as a financial opportunity. 

In Thursday’s nearly three hour meeting, the Division of Forestry outlined 11 general concerns they heard from the public and stakeholders about the plan and took votes on responses to those concerns. 

Among the changes the council agreed to Thursday, the plan will now include commitments to making aesthetic adjustments to any future harvests and to only cutting pines during the off-season. These provisions were added to quell concerns about the impact of the plan on tourism in the Mohican area.

As another new provision, the plan now includes a commitment to keeping all existing pines in any protected areas. Chad Sanders, manager of Mohican-Memorial State Forest, said the plan is to start in educational areas and to thin no more than 20 to 40 acres of pine each year. The forest includes 1,800 acres of pine. 

Also added to the plan is a provision to require progress monitoring of hardwood regeneration, either through a scientific study or through an internal monitoring process. This provision was agreed to after council expressed a desire to make sure the plan is working and to correct any problems that arise in the implementation.

The council also added a commitment not to conduct any forest management practices, such as thinning of pine plantations, without first managing invasive species that could spread in cleared areas. 

About 40 members of the public attended Thursday’s meeting. Most of them were there to show support of Mohican Advocates and North Central Ohio Land Conservancy, both groups that have opposed the plan. Also represented were the Mohican Native Plant Society, the Ohio Chapter of Sierra Club and the Ohio Society of American Foresters, among others. 

Members of the public did not have an opportunity to speak at the meeting but expressed mixed reactions afterward.

Annette McCormick was instrumental in a 1994 effort to protect the forest from logging that resulted in the current zoning of the forest. She said she was glad to see wording added to the plan to consider invasive species in the forest management efforts. 

McCormick also was encouraged to see the number of people at the meeting. 

“I’m hopeful they understand that there’s so much public interest that they aren’t going to get away with what they do in the other forests,” McCormick said. “They won’t get away with that at Mohican. There would be a public outcry.”

Jean Taddie of the North Central Ohio Land Conservancy said she’s still unhappy with the plan, despite the new changes, because the plan “was designed and voted on by foresters” without plant experts at the table.

“I feel like they keep making changes around the edges,” she said, adding that she feels the council has not addressed the core of her group’s concerns and that they “blew off” the idea that perhaps the forest does not need to be managed at all. 

Taddie said she would like to see the planners looking to the future, considering changes in climate and invasive species, rather than trying to recreate the forest as it was pre-settlement. 

Eric Miller of Mohican Advocates said he feels all of Mohican should be a protected park, rather than divided between a state park and a state forest. 

Miller described Mohican as unique in the area because of its size.

“Therefore, we should recognize it has a special role for the millions of people who live near it,” he said. 

The date of council’s next meeting has not yet been set.