If you’ve been a regular reader, you’ve often seen me refer to the Ohio Division of Wildlife and the work that is being done with our fish and wildlife resources. While some may believe it’s just a bureaucratic jungle, others see it as a benchmark in maintaining our state’s remaining flora and fauna. Most aren’t aware of how it all began or how it has evolved and continues to transform.
Following Abraham Maslow’s physiological and psychological Hierarchy of Needs, the most basic needs — such as air, water, food, shelter and safety — are essential for survival, mirroring the basics of wildlife habitat. From that springs the higher-level needs of love, esteem and self-actualization. Much of professional wildlife and fisheries resource management is based around these same principles – and those higher levels? Those are our collective reactions to those efforts.
Here is part one of a short series on how the Division of Wildlife was born and why. To quote Maya Angelou, “You can’t really know where you are going until you know where you have been.”
Part 1: Ohio’s Changes of Land and Water
In 1788, Colonel John May had traveled from Boston to Marietta in the Ohio Territory when he observed, “I am of the opinion that deer are plentier in this country than horned cattle are in New England. However, this state of things will not last long; for whenever a country begins to be settled, the native inhabitants must either flee or perish outright…”
The colonel’s prophecy would soon prove itself, for a transformation was inevitably coming.
Change was happening quickly across this new country. The territory’s population began to grow quickly after first settling Marietta. From the settlement’s original 48 persons in 1788, the Ohio Country had grown to be home to more than 45,000 by 1800. Reaching statehood three years later, Ohio would reach 1.5 million by 1840. These new residents were primarily originating from New England, though settlers with more southern roots were wending their way along the Ohio River to settle in the new state’s southern border. In 1842, the Treaty with the Wyandot Indians, also known as the Treaty of Upper Sandusky, forced the last of the once numerous Native American tribes to the west.
During this period of settlement, farming became increasingly important, and the work was back-breaking. It included clearing land for arable fields; creating containment and grazing areas for livestock; and constructing homes and barns, all the while surrounded by prairies, woodlands and marshes — all fine places for wildlife to hide and make their homes. To these settlers, wildlife was both a commodity and a menace. While providing tradable fur and hides and supplies of meat, some of these animals were also deemed as destructive nuisances to be dealt with harshly.
Enemy of the state
Few laws existed to protect wildlife from the landowners’ wrath or their need to collect pelts or meat. By 1803, the last of Ohio’s American bison was killed near the present site of Vesuvius Furnace in Lawrence County. Deer were shot whenever convenient, and bears, mountain lions and wolves were killed on sight.
Even the common gray squirrel once caused much concern. Early settlers faced an onslaught of the animal which ravaged both home and farms, causing great losses to crops. It was found to be so damaging that legislation was passed that required taxpayers to kill gray squirrels and turn their scalps into the county clerk. In a 1948 research paper submitted by Charles Dumbach of The Ohio State University’s Department of Zoology and Entomology, the number of squirrel scalps to be submitted by each taxpaying citizen should be “no less than 10” nor “more than 100.”
Athens County also offered a bounty on wolves and mountain lions and paid $4 (nearly $76 in 2022 currency) for each dead animal which was verified by authorities. These once common large animals were quickly disappearing and by 1818, the county suspended bounty payments because so few of these animals still existed in the area.
That year, 1818, was also the year of The Great Hinckley Hunt in Medina County. Wanting to rid the area of any creature that might threaten farm or friend, a near military-style plan was conceived by what is said to have been veterans of the American Revolution and the War of 1812.
This area was still an unbroken forest of big trees and, in addition, was believed to be a haven for wolves, bears and smaller animals. Nearby farmers, who had worked hard to clear and farm the ground around the large woods, were raising chickens, sheep, cows and other domesticated animals as well as food crops. They claimed that their produce was often raided, and entire flocks of sheep were being decimated in a single night, even when penned.
Gathering a group of volunteers, a plan was made for a “war of extermination” against wolves and bears. At dawn, on Dec. 24, 1818, the large forest was surrounded by approximately 600 men and boys. At day’s end, the tally of animals taken included 17 wolves, 21 bears and 300 deer. Uncounted animals in that total included turkeys and deer that were carried home by participants, as well as fox and raccoons that were dispatched.
Rules written in blood
By 1829, some were seeing the effects of the lack of moderation while controlling some wild animals. Responding to quickly diminishing numbers of muskrats, laws were passed to protect them from May 1 through Oct. 15. This regulation was meant to preserve the valuable fur bearing animal until its pelt was prime and usable for manufacture and sale in the booming fur market. Passed in the 26th year of statehood, this law would be the first passed by Ohio’s General Assembly to protect a wild animal.
The mid-century saw most of Ohio’s large forests reduced to scant remnants, and Ohio had become the country’s new agricultural leader. Farms and pastures had replaced much of the wooded land and logging was providing building lumber for this and neighboring states. Only 13% of Ohio’s nearly two million residents were not associated with some aspect of agriculture.
The last of the areas yet to be impacted by the plow was the nearly impenetrable Great Black Swamp found in northwest Ohio. It was the final stronghold of the few elk, bears, wolves and lynx left in the state. Its mud-laden ground and dense growth prevented access and offered little for settler or farmer.
This would soon change as better drainage techniques were developed. This last wilderness was soon to be gone and with it, those animals that had remained hidden in the thick growth.
“Our challenges don’t define us, our actions do.”
— Michael J. Fox
