It’s a crime against nature for Wayne National Forest to burn live animals in its prescribed forest fires. Out now are box turtles, salamanders, wood frogs and eggs of woodcock and turkey on the ground that can’t run away from fire. If it isn’t a plant or a rock, it’s an animal and it will burn in a forest fire.

Invertebrate animals pollinate flowers, feed birds and bats, and turn leaves back into nutrients to grow more trees. There are 200 pounds of spiders per forest acre. Wayne may have killed 70 tons already in the 700 acres burned so far and may kill another 96 tons in the remaining 959 acres it intends to burn.

The Ohio Environmental Protection Agency issues the air pollution permits, which allow Wayne to conduct prescribed forest fires. This agency has a brochure describing its open burning laws. We, the public, are told we can never burn dead animals, not anywhere in Ohio at any time. But Wayne, part of the 1 percent, is given permits which allow it to burn unlimited amounts of live animals — which soon become dead ones.

An Occupy Forest group is needed to stop this animal injustice, this crime against nature in the Wayne.

Barbara A. Lund,

member, Save Our Shawnee Forest

Lynx