Shortly after I moved back to Ohio from Oregon in 2016, I learned that Wayne National Forest, Ohio's only national forest, was under threat from the gas and oil industry.
After learning more about what was happening, visiting the area, and meeting some locals who will be directly impacted, I felt compelled to document what's being lost and the stories of the people to whom it matters most.
Over the past year, with some support from a Heartwood mini-grant, I have shot hours of footage of scenery and wildlife, as well as gas and oil infrastructure, and have recorded and transcribed a couple of interviews with people from the area who love the forest and are being directly impacted by the industrialization of this natural area.
My immediate goal is to conduct at least two more interviews and shoot some additional spring forest footage during the April and early May, and then edit together a piece by the end of May, in time to screen it at Heartwood's 28th Annual Forest Council in Slippery Rock, Pennsylvania.
