On Monday, January 12, at 1 p.m., Ohio's Oil and Gas Land Management Commission -- the five-member governor-appointed body in charge of decisions about fracking Ohio's state parks and public lands -- will hold a public hearing about changes to the standard form for leasing our lands to the oil and gas industry.

This hearing will be the first time in almost three years that the citizens of Ohio will be allowed to speak at a meeting regarding the fate of the state parks and public lands that we own, use, and cherish.

We want to make the most of this opportunity. Please sign up to attend this hearing in person and speak.

Save Ohio Parks board and steering committee members will be on site at noon on January 12. You will have a chance to practice your testimony at a microphone before giving it in person to the commission.

The only change to the standard lease form is to increase the primary lease term from three to five years, as required by HB 308 of 2024. We can't do much about that, since the law was pushed through by a super-gerrymandered legislature -- but we can tell the commission what we think about it.

Two more years of fracking our state parks and public lands mean:

• More toxic air pollution that kills wildlife and harms human health
• Billions more gallons of toxic, radioactive frack wastewater that will be injected underground.
• Thousands more truck trips hauling fracking chemicals and waste with no PPE for drivers
• More fossil fuel extraction from Appalachian Ohio, already a sacrifice zone for decades
• More money into the pockets of out-of-state fracking companies from fracked communities

But we can speak up. Sign up now to tell the commissioners in person what you think about giving oil and gas companies two more years to frack our state parks and public lands.

As a reminder, here are the public lands approved or nominated for fracking so far:

• Salt Fork State Park
• Valley Run Wildlife Area
• Zepernick Wildlife Area
• Egypt Valley Wildlife Area
• Keen Wildlife Area
• Leesville Wildlife Area
• Jockey Hollow Wildlife Area
• Noble Correctional Institute
• 26 rights-of-way along state highways

We the people pay the taxes that own and maintain these public lands. Yet for almost three years we have not been allowed to speak at any meeting where decisions about these lands are being made.

But this meeting is different -- it's a public hearing on updating the standard lease form to increase the primary term oil and gas companies get to frack our public land from three to five years.

Sign up today to tell the commissioners what you think about giving fracking companies two more years to frack our public lands -- especially our cherished state parks and wildlife areas.

Not sure what to say? We will be conducting an online testimony training on Thursday, January 8, at 4:30 p.m. Register here

Need a ride to the meeting from outside Columbus? Can you offer a ride? Sign up for our carpool board