OHIO: State mulls plan for strip mine in forest with popular ATV trails
Greenwire: Monday, June 15, 2015
The Ohio Department of Natural Resources is considering a plan to lease for coal strip mining large parts of a state park popular for its ATV trails.
Perry State Forest is a 4,567-acre property east of Columbus that was strip mined before being acquired by the state in 1961. The partially reforested area has the most popular all-terrain vehicle and dirt bike trails in the state, according to its website.
Officials from the Department of Natural Resources would not discuss any mining plans, saying only that "conceptual conversations" with Westmoreland Coal Co. had taken place.
Allowing strip mining would enable proper reclamation of the land once the coal is extracted and reduce acid runoff in the area, supporters of the plan say.
ATV riders say allowing mining would cut off access to more than 50 miles of trails in the forest, most of which have been created and maintained by volunteers (Randy Ludlow, Columbus Dispatch, June 13). -- BTP
