Shawnee State Forest

About Shawnee State Forest

In 1922, the Shawnee State Forest, once inhabited by Shawnees Indians, was founded by the U.S. Forest Service, whose 5,000 acres of land had been cleared for timber and destroyed by fire. In 1930, six camps were built in the forest for the Civil Conservation Corps, and the Theodore Roosevelt Game Preserve was acquired the same year.

During this period, many roads were built in the then almost inaccessible area, and many other achievements were made, including the construction of five small lakes to supply water for camps. With the establishment of the Department of Natural Resources in 1949, the recreational facilities at Roosevelt Lake were transferred to the Department of Parks. In 1951, the Roosevelt Game Preserve became part of the forest under an agreement with the Department of Forestry and Wildlife.

I grew up in the Shawnee State Forest, also known as the Little Smokies of Ohio, and although it is a fantastic recreational area in southern Ohio, I was surprised to experience other activities. The forest is home to a variety of wildlife including deer, elk, elk, coyotes, bears and wolves, as well as managed forests such as the Great Smoky Mountains National Park in North Carolina.

During the spring and fall wildfire season, state forest crews identify and fight wildfires that occur in surrounding Shawnee State Forest protected areas. Nearly 8,000 hectares of forest have been designated as wilderness, and more than 1,500 hectares of wildlife habitat are under construction. The nearly 1.5 million square kilometres of forest are managed to offer a variety of uses on a sustainable yield basis.

The human impact was minimized and the land was allowed to return to its natural state, except for a small part of the Shawnee State Forest in western Kansas.

Timber and public motorized transportation were abolished in the region, bricks were mined, and stone was transported by rail and barge to the Ohio River and loaded onto barges. Much of the stone is used to build buildings in Cincinnati, but it was also transported by rail through Ohio River to other cities and towns in Ohio, Kentucky, Indiana, Tennessee, Ohio and Kentucky.