An Ohio commission gave the green light on Monday for several bidders to frack under state lands, almost exclusively in southeast Ohio.
The five-member Oil and Gas Land Management Commission, under the Ohio Department of Natural Resources (ODNR), advanced more than 20 bids. Those included nine that lease mineral rights under large swaths of land in Egypt Valley Wildlife Area, Jockey Hollow Wildlife Area and Salt Fork State Park.
Commissioners did not talk with journalists afterwards. Andy Chow, an ODNR spokesperson, said Monday that lease bonuses for those bids totaled more than $240 million.
And the ODNR-managed land bid out Monday stretches more than 10,000 acres.
The unanimous votes were again drowned out by activists, some with Save Ohio Parks, who have become regulars—and sometimes, hecklers—at meetings.
Cathy Cowan Becker said she’s worried about the environmental effects drilling might be having on land intended for conservation.
“Animals can certainly hear it. You don’t necessarily see methane pollution, (but) the methane pollution is part of every fracking operation, because they are fracking methane gas, so that is leaked at every point,” Cowan Becker said in an interview. “It’s also noise, there’s a lot of light, there’s a lot of chemicals that go into this.”
The Oil and Gas Land Management Commission also denied four additional nominations for mineral rights under the Egypt Valley Wildlife Area.
In early 2023, Gov. Mike DeWine signed a law clearing hurdles for oil and gas firms to obtain leases to mineral rights under state lands, although drilling under them has been legal since 2011. Lawmakers have said it was done to increase natural gas accessibility and bolster tax revenue.
Last year, lawmakers cut ODNR’s parks and recreation budget by 50% in fiscal year 2026 and by 13% in fiscal year 2027, according to Legislative Service Commission documents, and then used fracking royalties to fill those holes.
