Forests of Ohio

ODNR-Division of Forestry
Ohio State University Extension

Ohio's Forests -- What They Were

Stories abound about Ohio's presettlement forests. It's believed that prior to European settlement, there were more than 25 million acres of forests covering 95 percent of the state, and "... a squirrel could travel from one corner of the state to the other without touching the ground." Though that may be exaggerated, Ohio was once dominated by truly magnificent hardwood forests. Huge trees of maple, beech, oak, tuliptree, and sycamore, among many others, thrived. Wood volumes of 45,000 board feet per acre were not unusual.

Vegetation of many types abounded. Elm-ash forests were found in the northwest Ohio swamps; mixed oak was predominant in the southeast hill country; beech forests covered the great expanses of what is now Ohio's agricultural land.

But the abundant forests got in the way of a growing nation. They were removed with a passion beginning in the late 1700s and continuing for the next 150 years. Ohio's fertile ground made it ideal for farming and much of the land was cleared. By 1900, forests covered less than 15 percent of the state, and by 1940, only 12 percent of Ohio (3.2 million acres) remained forested.