ATHENS, Ohio— A new Bureau of Land Management plan to open 40,000 acres of the Wayne National Forest to fracking for oil and gas looks almost identical to one a federal judge rejected in 2020. The public can comment on the plan in writing or during online meetings Monday and Tuesday.

Fossil fuel companies have targeted Ohio’s only national forest for years and in 2016 the BLM first attempted to auction off oil and gas leases in the Wayne. The new proposal, released in late March, is nearly identical to the fracking plan blocked in 2020 after conservation groups challenged it in federal court.

“It’s hugely disappointing that federal officials are sticking with this climate-destroying plan to sell off Ohio’s precious public lands to the oil and gas industry, even as flooding, wildfires and heat waves intensify with climate change,” said Wendy Park, a senior attorney at the Center for Biological Diversity. “Our government needs to prioritize people, wildlife and our climate over corporate profits and block fracking in the Wayne once and for all. Ohio residents have the chance to speak out over the next few weeks, and I hope land managers get an earful about this reckless fracking proposal.”

Fracking threatens the Wayne’s rivers, forests and endangered plants and animals ― the same things Congress intended to protect when it created the national forest in the 1930s.

“Fracking the Wayne National Forest would seriously jeopardize Ohio’s ability to fight climate change. This single oil and gas project threatens to generate enough greenhouse gas pollution to cancel out all of the Wayne’s carbon storage services for the next 30 years,” said Nathan Johnson, senior attorney with the Ohio Environmental Council. “Leasing the Wayne to the fossil fuel industry will scar this public forest and pollute our air with toxic chemicals. We should be doing everything we can to protect the public’s access to safe and beautiful public lands — especially in Ohio, where public land is in relatively short supply compared to so many other states.”

In 2017 the Center for Biological Diversity, Ohio Environmental Council, Heartwood and the Sierra Club sued the BLM and the U.S. Forest Service over their environmental assessment authorizing fracking in the Wayne. In March 2020 a federal judge ruled that the agencies had ignored fracking’s potential threats to endangered Indiana bats, the Little Muskingum River and the region’s air quality. The judge prohibited any leasing or fracking in the Wayne until the agencies conducted additional studies that considered these harms.

Despite the court order, the new proposal ignores how industrial-scale fracking will imperil the Wayne ecosystem. The BLM acknowledges that greenhouse gas emissions under the fracking plan would equal the emissions from 33,000 gas-powered vehicles.

“If the BLM opens 40,000 acres of the Wayne to fracking as planned, these beautiful forests could become littered with well pads, gathering lines and other fracking infrastructure,” said Loraine McCosker of Save Ohio Parks. “The Wayne National Forest provides so many ecosystem services to the region, including non-timber forest products and recreation. Allowing this region to be fracked will destroy the forest integrity and harm the many communities in the area.”

The BLM is accepting public comments on the leasing plan through May 6 and will hold two public online meetings from 6 to 8 p.m. EST April 8 and 9. The Bureau and the Forest Service will then decide whether to allow new oil and gas leases in the Wayne National Forest.