Jane Beathard

While black bears are becoming a more common sight in Ohio these days, the big male captured and collared in this northeast Ohio county in mid-June is a rarity.
Most adult male black bears weigh between 150 and 700 pounds and average about 300 pounds, according to published reports.
The Ashtabula County bear weighed 576 pounds. Katie Dennison, a biologist with the Ohio DNR (ODNR) Division of Wildlife, called the bear “unexpected” in the state.

The federal Bureau of Land Management (BLM) is moving forward with plans to open a unit of the Wayne National Forest in southeast Ohio to leasing by oil and gas companies.
The BLM proposes opening 2,840 acres of the forest in Monroe and Washington counties (Marietta unit of the Wayne) to leasing. Bids are slated to be taken in September on 41 parcels. Comments from the public regarding the leasing proposal were taken from May 18 to June 17.

A three-year research project to measure the success of H2Ohio and its overall effect on Ohio’s environment is underway at 80 sites along Lake Erie and in many of the state’s restored wetlands.
Secretive marsh birds are at the center of a three-year study to determine their presence in the Great Lakes region, according to Rachel Mansfield, a doctoral student at Wright State University.