Drilling in Parks the Wrong Move

By Denise Driehaus

State parks are assets that should be preserved, instead of being ravaged for private profit. Floor speech regarding drilling in parks.

The Division of Parks was created as a division of ODNR in 1949 with the statutory obligation to create, supervise, operate and maintain a system of state parks and to promote their use by the public.

In 1968, then-Governor Jim Rhodes advocated for, and helped pass, a bond issue in the amount of $779 million for public priorities including transportation projects, vocational schools and public parks.

In 1993 voters passed another bond issue to further develop our park system and modernize facilities. The citizens of Ohio have consistently supported a strong and vibrant park system.

As evidence of our commitment to state parks, in November of 1997, the Ohio State Parks system was recognized as the nation's finest + winning of the first ever National Gold Medal Award for state parks recreation excellence.

Our predecessors had the foresight to set aside and invest in lands for public park use. Investments were made then, and have been made since, to ensure that the public park system in Ohio would thrive into the future. These individuals understood the value of parks, both from an environmental and an economic stand point. Superior parks improve the quality of life in Ohio and in turn help drive economic growth.

As a member of the Cincinnati Recreation System for 16 years, I was periodically approached about selling off city golf courses and other assets. It was our policy to refuse such offers no matter the short-term gain; we were the protectors not the owners of these lands. The long-term consequences were too dire + once these lands were lost, they were lost forever.

The legislation before us today would allow the oil and gas industry to drill in our parks. This would produce destruction to the site of the drilling, increased vehicle traffic going to and from the site, land, water and noise pollution and an overall degradation of the park land.

I think we need to recognize that the Ohio State park system does not belong to us, the General Assembly. The parks belong to the people of Ohio. We are simply the stewards of these state assets. It is our charge, during our service as state representatives, to preserve and care for the state's assets on behalf of the citizens of the state. We owe it to the future generations of Ohioans to be responsible public stewards. We should work to preserve public parks instead of adulterating them for private profit.