In the span of a few generations, settlement, intensifying agriculture, abrupt changes of habitat and unchecked harvest took a heavy toll on Ohio’s native wildlife. Since the last bison was killed near Vesuvius Furnace, mountain lions, beaver, elk, gray wolves, black bears and bobcats were all considered gone by 1850.
While these losses seemed palatable for many, there was public concern for the killing of native songbirds and the legislature moved to protect them.
A non-game protection law was signed in 1857, making it unlawful to kill or injure bluebirds, martins, mockingbirds, swallows, cardinals, catbirds, robins or sparrows on either public lands or upon lands of another.
The original bill suggested that the passenger pigeon also be protected, but the committee selected to look at the issue reported, “The passenger pigeon needs no protection. Wonderfully prolific, having the vast forests of the North as its breeding grounds, traveling hundreds of miles in search of food, it is here today and elsewhere tomorrow, and no ordinary destruction can lessen them, or be missed from the myriads that are yearly produced.”
It would be a century before additional rules were passed to protect other non-game animals.
Legislators were concerned with the diminishing numbers of fish in rivers and streams. Water mills used to power manufacturing and grist-grinding existed on about 1,000 sites along the state’s waterways. Damming and mill-building were having substantial effects on the state’s fisheries.
These man-made barriers prevented the natural movements of many important fish species from migrating to their spawning grounds. These obstructions also caused the effects of increasing stream pollution and drought to be felt more severely.
In 1838, Dr. Jared P. Kirtland, a renowned ichthyologist from Cleveland, said, “The early settlers of this state derived abundant supplies of fish from the different rivers, but as of late, many of the finest species have forsaken their resorts owing, in a great measure, to the obstructions occasioned by the construction of so many dams. A sluiceway in every dam should be provided to allow them free passage up and down the streams in conformity to their instinctive laws of migration.”
Kirtland’s words did not go unheard, and though it took some time for them to ring in the halls of the state’s capital, they would ring. The first law for the protection of fish was passed on April 17, 1852, “making it illegal to prevent the natural transit of fish in navigable streams and lakes.” In 1871, chutes were mandated to allow the passage of fish.
Water quality issues
While agriculture continued to dominate Ohio’s economy, by the end of the Civil War, industrialization increased dramatically. With Ohio’s population close to 3 million, the improving transportation systems and booming industrial jobs caused city populations to swell with newcomers seeking work. With few regulations existing to deal with runoff, spillage or disposal of waste, many waterways and Lake Erie were suffering the consequences.
Fish populations began to show the effects of pollution, agricultural and mining runoff and other impacts brought on by these sudden ecological changes. Legislatures received complaints of the degradation of Ohio’s waterways and of dead and dying fish. Both sport and commercial anglers reported sizeable reductions in the numbers of fish they were seeking for either table, restaurant or store counter. They began to insist that something be done.
Ohio’s state legislature, led by Gov. Edward Follansbee Noyes (1872-1874), examined the fisheries issues facing Ohio. They decided that the public and the resources deserved an answer, and, at the very least, the beginning of a solution. In 1873, Ohio’s first state agency was created to explore ways to turn these losses around. Three commissioners were chosen for the newly decreed Ohio Fish Commission: John C. Fisher, of Coshocton; Robert Cummings, of Toledo; and John H. Klippart, of Columbus.
They were handed these responsibilities: “It shall be the duty of the commissioners to examine the various rivers, lakes, ponds and streams of the State of Ohio, with a view of ascertaining whether they can be rendered more productive of fish, and what measures are desirable to effect this project, either in restoring the production of fish in them or in protecting or propagating the fish that at present frequent them; said commissioners shall inquire into the matter of the artificial propagation of the fish in the various waters throughout the state; and any recommendations they may have to offer, at the next meeting of the General Assembly of this state.”
By 1875, the Fish Commission was looking into fish propagation and the creation of hatcheries while also approving the introduction of the German carp and Atlantic salmon. They planned to include the possibility of fish stocking to augment wild populations.
These commissioners were not optimistic about the recovery of Ohio’s native fish as populations continued their decline. “It affords substantial grounds for believing the total extinction of fish life in Ohio is drawing near.”
This ominous prediction struck a nerve with Ohio’s General Assembly. It wasn’t likely that voters would be willing to elect legislators who could not repair this problem, an issue which could potentially wreak havoc with the economy and the very kitchen tables of the state’s populace.
As Ohio approached its 80th year, 83% of the state’s vast forests had been cleared. Most of the large animals that inhabited Ohio had been extirpated or soon would be. Lesser species such as passenger pigeons, Carolina parakeets, and prairie chickens were quickly declining and even turkey and whitetail deer were scarce.
The Ohio General Assembly was about to take another aggressive step toward modernizing the state’s conservation efforts.
“We abuse land because we regard it as a commodity belonging to us. When we see land as a community to which we belong, we may begin to use it with love and respect.”
— Aldo Leopold
