Representative Johnson and other committee members pressed the Ohio Department of Natural Resources on safety and local impacts from high visitation at Hocking Hills and other parks, and on whether ODNR could take a more active role in managing Adena Mansion and related Great Seal State Park assets.

Johnson said Hocking Hills draws heavy weekend visitation and cited strain on volunteer fire and rescue services, limited ranger presence and parking and shuttle challenges. He asked how ODNR could better fund safety services and aid local responders. Mary Mertz, director of the Ohio Department of Natural Resources, said parks and wildlife divisions are the largest employer groups within the agency and acknowledged the challenge: “There are never enough. That's one of the number one comments we get from folks. Hey. How come I never see an officer? And we've been trying very hard to increase those ranks in the last few years.” She noted the department added 24 additional officers in the past biennium and described ongoing efforts to equip and deploy field staff.

On economic impact, Mertz said Maumee Bay State Park hosts a major birding event that draws large numbers and that the department has commissioned economic-impact analyses; she offered to provide figures to the committee during the budget hearing. Mertz emphasized parks as economic drivers in all regions and said ODNR’s capital investments — for example, cabin and visitor-center construction at Jesse Owens State Park and campground upgrades in Appalachia — are intended to increase visitation and local spending.

Representative Johnson raised Adena Mansion (also referenced as the Adena/Great Seal site), currently managed by the Ohio History Connection. Johnson suggested ODNR might assume caretaking responsibilities for better day-to-day maintenance. Mertz said ODNR has experience maintaining historic properties — citing Marblehead Lighthouse and Malabar Farm as examples — and that either ODNR or the Ohio History Connection could manage the property effectively if provided sufficient resources. She recommended a joint assessment between ODNR and the Ohio History Connection to estimate what “it would take to run it the right way.”

The committee made no formal decision but the chair said members will continue the conversation with ODNR staff in follow-up sessions and during the agency’s budget review.