ODNR director briefs House committee on parks upgrades, H2Ohio work and ramped orphan‑well plugging

Director Mary Mertz, director of the Ohio Department of Natural Resources, told the House Natural Resources Committee that the agency is pressing ahead on large parks investments, H2Ohio natural‑infrastructure projects and an expanded program to plug orphan oil and gas wells.

The presentation gave lawmakers a high‑level overview of ODNR’s structure and workload and included specific program updates the agency said have budget and public‑safety implications. “We doubled the number of wells that we plugged last year,” Mertz said, and the agency has set higher goals for the coming years while working through contractor capacity and funding constraints.

ODNR overview and agency scale: Mertz said ODNR manages extensive lands and programs including 76 state parks, 24 state forests, 147 state nature preserves and 189 wildlife areas. She said the agency employs roughly 2,500–2,600 people at the height of the summer season and maintains a presence in every county, including at least one wildlife officer assigned to each county. Mertz told the committee ODNR issued about 850,000 fishing licenses and 360,000 hunting licenses last year; registered about 630,000 watercraft (including roughly 330,000 paddle craft); and that ODNR fish hatcheries stocked about 46,000,000 fish in 2024. She said the state recorded a white‑tailed deer harvest of about 238,000 this year.

Orphan‑well plugging and oil and gas oversight: Mertz described a significant scale‑up in orphan‑well plugging after years of relatively low annual activity. She said ODNR plugged “over 400 wells” last year, aims for 500 in the current year and that the agency would like to eventually reach higher annual rates. Mertz said the state has accumulated severance‑tax funds set aside for plugging and is also anticipating additional state and federal funding; she told members ODNR “anticipates receiving over $600,000,000 in state and federal funding between now and 2035,” but cautioned that federal funding streams remain uncertain. She said the pace of plugging has been limited by the number of qualified contractors and that prioritization follows the statute’s public‑safety matrix: “the statute requires that we prioritize these with a focus on public safety,” Mertz said.

H2Ohio and water work: Mertz highlighted ODNR’s role in H2Ohio natural‑infrastructure projects, describing wetlands and other “natural infrastructure” as cost‑effective filters for phosphorus and beneficial for wildlife and recreation. She said the agency has more than 200 H2Ohio projects completed or underway in the past five years and that the program now includes river protection work.

Parks investments and Appalachian projects: Mertz described capital work at multiple parks, including upgrades at Jesse Owens State Park and the Appalachian Hills Wildlife Area. She said planned improvements at Jesse Owens include new cabins with modern amenities and Wi‑Fi, an upgraded full‑service campground, a camp store and a new visitor center, plus an expanded trail system that will ultimately include a roughly 33‑mile loop incorporating parts of the Buckeye Trail. Mertz said those investments are intended to boost regional tourism and economic activity.

Park staffing and safety questions: Committee members raised safety and staffing concerns for high‑use parks. Representative Johnson noted heavy weekend visitation at Hocking Hills and described pressure on volunteer fire and rescue services and local sheriffs. Mertz acknowledged staffing needs and said ODNR added 24 commissioned officers in the most recent biennium to boost park and resource protection.

Injection wells and reported leak: Representative Rogers asked for an update on a reported injection‑well communication last summer. Mertz said ODNR determined that some injection wells had communicated underground and that ODNR asked some wells to shut down and adjusted depth requirements in certain formations; she said the agency had found no confirmed cases of groundwater or drinking‑water contamination tied to those incidents.

Adena Mansion / Great Seal State Park discussion: Representative Johnson urged a partnership between ODNR and the Ohio History Connection on the Adena Mansion and Great Seal State Park, noting visitation and maintenance concerns. Mertz said ODNR has experience maintaining historic properties and that either ODNR or the Ohio History Connection could run the site if provided adequate resources; she supported a joint assessment to estimate the cost and operational changes required.

Next steps: Mertz told the committee she expects to return to discuss ODNR’s budget request and offered to supply tourism‑impact numbers and other data for the legislature’s capital and operating deliberations.

Ending: The committee’s chairman closed the hearing after members asked Mertz to return for budget discussions; Representative Rogers was appointed committee secretary without objection earlier in the meeting.