No criminal charges in death of Ohio Forestry Division employee; ODNR now moves forward with administrative investigation

 After wrapping up a nearly four-month long investigation, the Jackson County prosecutor has determined that it “.. will not be moving forward with any criminal charges at this time” related to a March 23rd incident that cost an Ohio Department of Natural Resources’ Division of Forestry employee her life.

Killed was Selinde Roosenburg who was participating in a controlled burn at the 2,531-acre Richland Furnace State Forest, located in Vinton and Jackson counties. The incident involved Roosenburg as a passenger in an all-terrain vehicle being driven by another, unnamed, Forestry Division employee.

It is said the vehicle lost control, ejecting Roosenburg from the machine. She was life-flighted to Grant Medical Center in Columbus where she was pronounced dead.

Thus, with the conclusion of the criminal investigation the Natural Resources Department says it can now initiate “... an administrative investigation into the matter to determine whether any disciplinary action is warranted.”

Jackson County Assistant Prosecutor Rachel E. Daehler said in a July 13th letter to Schaad Johnson, captain with the Natural Resources Department’s Division of Parks and Recreation, that “This was an incredibly tragic accident and our office expresses its deepest condolences to the family of Ms. Roosenburg.”

Daehler said also in her letter to Johnson that in order for her office to pursue criminal charges against the driver of the vehicle… “we would need to be able to prove beyond a reasonable doubt that the driver was operating the ATV in one of the following ways: (1) under the influence of drugs/alcohol; (2) recklessly; (3) negligently; or (4) in violation of a traffic law under Revised Code Section 4511.”

“There is no indication that the driver was operating the ATV while under the influence, nor do the facts indicate that the driver was operating the ATV recklessly,” Daehler said.

Likewise, said Daehler in her letter, the remaining sections of the Ohio Revised Code demands that the prosecutor would have had to prove the unexpected acceleration of the ATV “..was due to the negligence of the driver, or, that the driver was operating the ATV in violation of a traffic law.”

However, the Jackson County Prosecutor’s office “… does not believe it has the evidence necessary to prove either of these elements beyond a reasonable doubt,” Daehler said in her letter.

“From all witness accounts, the driver was operating the ATV in a responsible manner when he encountered rapid acceleration, the cause of which is disputed.”

“Additionally, while the driver did fail to control the ATV, this particular traffic crime only applies to vehicles being operated on a street, highway, or property open to the public for vehicular traffic… As such, (the Jackson County Prosecutor’s Office) does not believe it is has the evidence necessary to prove a criminal offense was committed in connection with the accident.”

Which now clears the way for the Natural Resources Department to proceed with its own internal, administrative, investigation.

Sarah Wickham, the Natural Resources Department’s Chief of Communications - following a request for comment by “Ohio Outdoor News - noted that the fatal incident was “tragic.”

Wickham said also how the Natural Resources Department “is committed to continuous improvement and taking a critical look at our operations and how we can improve the protection of our employees, to the greatest extent possible, moving forward.”

“Shortly after this accident we assembled a multi-divisional working group to evaluate and determine whether we needed to revise our policies related to the operation of ATVs and UTVs,” said

Wickham said as well in her communique with “Ohio Outdoor News” that... “the department is in the process of adding additional training requirements for all employees who utilize these vehicles, creating visible reminders of the need for seatbelt use, and examining helmet options. We are currently evaluating the safest options for protection in various work scenarios.”

- By Jeffrey L. Frischkorn

JFrischk@Ameritech.net

JFrischk4@gmail.com

Extensive construction work at Magee Marsh to severely restrict controlled waterfowl hunts and birding opportunities this year

 

Waterfowlers looking to apply for one of the controlled hunts at the Ohio Division of Wildlife’s Magee Marsh site west of Port Clinton will need more than just a pair of waders to put out decoys and a retriever to fetch their downed ducks.

This year they’ll also need their own boats. That detail, plus only three of the blinds will be open to hunting anyway, will likely give pause to more than a few prospective applicants.

The reason is because of three, several-million dollar marsh improvement projects that are occurring at Magee.

All of these marsh improvements are on top of a renovation to the area’s Visitors Center, too.

Scott Butterworth – the supervisor for the Wildlife Division’s District Two (Northwest Ohio) office in Findlay - says the agency had to “de-water”Magee’s entire unit east of the north-south main dike road.

What is being done is the refurbishment of the dike buffering the marsh from Lake Erie.

“The lake’s high water has really taken its toll on the dike,” Butterworth said, noting this project received $12 million from the Ohio General Assembly’s Capital Improvements budget.

And to be replaced as well is the massive pump that draws water from Lake Erie to supply the marsh. The new pump and the replacement of two large water control structures will cost $1 million.

“The old pump is 40 to 50 years old,” Butterworth said.

A H2Ohio project in the Turtle Creek portion will cost about $750,000.

These projects span the Magee Marsh wetlands, all of which is requiring intensive construction work. Hence the need to restrict waterfowling to only a trickle of what is typicality available to successful lottery winners.

“There will be only three blinds available this year,” Butterworth says, “and those who do get drawn will have to supply their own boats. But that’s what teal hunters and late season hunters have to do now anyway.”

Those waterfowlers who do want to apply and eventually are drawn will be able to use the gravel launch ramp located by the Magee Marsh-Ottawa National Wildlife Refuge hunters’ check-in building, Butterworth said.

Not lost either is those birders who may want to visit Magee Marsh for the fall migration could find themselves also cut off. The reason here is that the dike road may very well be choked by construction vehicles and equipment, making civilian use of the paved roadway impossible, Butterworth says as well.

Butterworth says the agency hopes to have the projects completed in time so that the full slate of waterfowl hunts for 2022 can be held.

The problem is, says Butterworth, that securing all of the necessary equipment and building supplies has proven challenging.

“Its a temporary inconvenience for long-term benefits and improvements,” Butterworth says.

Ohio Natural Resources Department gets budget boost from DeWine Administration, state legislature

 

At 2,438 pages and with a combined street value of around $162 billion, Ohio’s 2022-2023 biennium (two-year) Operating Budget will fuel everything from supporting the State Board of Embalmers and Funeral Directors to helping out public education.

Tucked away in the massive document as well are six pages anchored on behalf of the Ohio Department of Natural Resources. Within that handful of ledger notations is the setting aside of a little more than $1 billion over the next two fiscal years for the Department.

In spreadsheet wizardry that accountants thrive on, the breakdown for the individual divisions is peppered throughout the six pages. Among the Divisions covered are Wildlife, along with Parks and Watercraft, and also Natural Areas.

The Ohio General Assembly built and then approved the two-year budget in late June and Governor Mike DeWine signed it July 1st.

Ultimately, the bottom line for the Natural Resources Department is, well, welcome, says the agency’s chief financial officer for the agency's internal Office of Budget and Management, Ryan K. Frazee.

“It’s a fantastic budget for the ODNR,” Frazee said. “Our budget didn’t decrease, but actually went up.”

Frazee has the unenviable task of deciphering the official budgetary hieroglyphics and putting the data into understandable language for the Department’s ultimate users along with the media and the public.

“It’s kind of a nerdy thing for what we do here in our office; the budget,” Frazee said with a chuckle.

Specifically, the rows of numbers and scrolls of separate accounts shows that for Fiscal 2022, the Natural Resources Department is earmarked to receive $526,081,196 while for Fiscal 2023, the Department is slated to receive $493,331,100.

In actuality, the Ohio General Assembly was more generous than was DeWine’s initial request, too. The governor originally had asked that the Natural Resources Department get $483,531,196 for Fiscal 2022 with Fiscal 2023’s gubernatorial request matching the General Assembly’s generosity.

“We love it when the legislature gives the ODNR more money,” DeWine told “Ohio Outdoor News” in a short interview.

DeWine added the legislature “recognizes we have more people fishing and going outdoors” and that a lot of the Department’s infrastructure “needs to be fixed up.”

“We’ve had good feelings from the legislature about the ODNR. It’s one area where we all can work together; the outdoors is not a partisan issue, and we have more that needs to be done.”

Broken down by divisions – not necessarily the easiest of tasks since individual divisional line items appear to pop up when least expected – the document shows where the financial goods are being delivered.

For Fiscal 2022 an assembly of all the various related items for the Wildlife Division totals $114,450,329. For the Natural Areas Division that figure is $12,317,024, and for the Parks and Watercraft Division the figure is $137,960,329.

To be sure there are always accounting asterisks when dealing with a budget with the complexity of the one for Ohio’s state government. Perhaps none more so than when dealing with the Parks and Watercraft Division.

At the beginning of each fiscal year, there is a cash transfer from the State Park Fund to the State Park Maintenance Fund to be used for maintenance, repair and renovation projects at state parks, Frazee said, launching into his budgetary tutorial.

“The amount of the transfer is five percent of the average of the previous five years of deposits. The cash transfer for last fiscal year (FY21) was $1,467,658.69,” Frazee said.

Since this amount exceeded the budget provided by the General Assembly, the department went to the Controlling Board and increased the budget on December 14, 2020, Frazee said.

“So I don’t consider this line to be a ‘cut.’ Rather, (by) providing base funding and any adjustments that are necessary would (then) go to the Controlling Board for review and approval,” Frazee said.

The Department is also handling $3 million in insurance claims money designated for the restoration of the Hocking Hills State Park Lodge, destroyed by a fire in 2016, Frazee said.

Similarly, says Frazee, the Natural Areas-Preserve Division budget will assist in helping that division return to flank speed.

Natural Areas and Preserves was liquidated in 2009 under then Ohio Governor Ted Strickland. During the bargain-basement John Kasich Administration the Natural Areas and Preserves Division suffered under the care of the Parks Division, which proved incapable of handling the job.

When DeWine became governor in 2019 he promised to resurrect the NA&P group, beginning by playing catch-up in his first cycle of the two-year Operating Budget. Consequently, starting with Fiscal 2022 the Natural Areas section is again running on all of its cylinders.

Frazee says too the Natural Resources Department is responsible for various personnel activity and logistical support matters. These figures appear in various locations in the budget’s six pages devoted to the agency.

Meanwhile, the Department has set aside $1.5 million to pay The Ohio State University for fisheries research, Frazee says.

The state’s H2Ohio Fund will see an additional $25 million for each of the two fiscal years, a key environmental protection project of DeWine’s and for which Frazee said is “a great program.”

And what many Ohio outdoors enthusiasts will acknowledge with a hearty nod of approval is a single line entry. That journal mention is devoted to the state’s 35,396-acre Appalachian Hills Wildlife Area and adjacent Jesse Owens State Park, formerly known as the Ohio Power Area.

The Ohio General Assembly set aside $28.6 million for Fiscal Year 2022 for the on-going Appalachian Hills project, Frazee says.

“The Legislature thought a one-time budget line item to the Wildlife Fund was the best way to go,” Frazee said. "It’s a tremendous asset for the state.”

To which DeWine noted the former AEP lands continues to remain a priority for the state.

“There are certain things we want to accomplish there, and finishing up what we started was vital,” DeWine said.

Jeffrey L. Frischkorn

JFrischk@Ameritech.net

JFrischk4@gmail.com