Republican legislators have just come out with their recommendations for balancing Ohio's budget, including the recommendation to "allow drilling on state-owned lands to help fund the Ohio Department of Natural Resources".
My friend has a farm that abuts part of the Wayne National Forest. For years her daughter, Amy, and I rode horses there. To begin, the trail led upwards. Enveloped in a canopy of trees we rode higher and higher. At the top, our horses waded through flowing water at cliff's edge. We watched as it cascaded downward to the forest below. I imagined us as time travelers, riding into primeval forests untouched by man.
Onward we rode through meadows and woods. No sounds did we hear but the stomping of hooves, the swishing of tails and high-spirited snorts as we leaped over fallen trees and washed out gullies along our way. Every so often my horse, Trisket, would dance a little jig then come to a halt, spooked by shadows falling across our path. Then off we would go again, into the unknown, awaiting the next adventure just around the next bend.
Then one day the drillers came in. They downed trees and bulldozed over the top of the waterfall, literally putting a stop to the flow of water. They ruined that land with their machines and their drills.
Our parks and public lands are an integral part of the fabric of our Nation ( see Parks, Our Natural Heritage 09/05/10).
Do not let the Republicans and the gas and oil exploiters destroy our public lands. They have been set aside for future generations and should not be violated.
