Our Ohio State Public Lands: Public Trust or Corporate Gain?

What can be done to slow down or even halt actions that many people view as a violation of the Public Trust? In 2022, the Ohio legislature included amendments into bill HB 507 stating that state agencies lease public lands to oil and gas companies and declaring natural gas to be a form of green energy. In response, the volunteer organization Save Ohio Parks was created and Earth Justice and others filed suit to stop the leasing. Join in this discussion to provide your thoughts about the protection of public lands.

About our speakers:

Roxanne Groff is a former county commissioner. Her environmental advocacy and justice work started in the late '70s with Save Our Rural Environment protesting strip mining. She now works with Buckeye Environmental Network on injection wells and toxic radioactive oil and gas waste.

Loraine McCosker is a recently retired environmental studies instructor at Ohio University. She has been advocating for public lands protection in Ohio since 2004 and is engaged in climate justice. She is also a steering committee member of Save Ohio Parks.