It started with the Dakota Access Pipeline (DAPL). We have proven that through peaceful protest, we can fight back against fracking, which can destroy wildlife, poison water sources, and even push forward climate change. Even so, companies silently continue to push fracking in other areas, Even a national forest. 

Wayne National Forest is located in Southeastern Ohio. Among rare plants and abundant wildlife, a large portion of the Wayne runs along the Ohio River, which supplies drinking water to over 5 million people. This forest is still in danger of fracking, however. The United States Bureau of Land Management is holding an auction to lease off 1,600 acres of the forest with special interest to oil companies. These companies will drill wells, extract oil, and leave once the lease is up. But that is still enough time to leak into the Ohio River, poisoning millions of people, just like the DAPL risked. 

We cannot let this auction move forward. We, a group of Ohioans, are going to present the BLM with 33 files of protest, one for each parcel of land being auctioned, no later than November 14th, 2016. Our goal with this petition is to express the gravity of this situation in order to avoid a large-scale protest similar to the DAPL Protests. We cannot risk the rare plants, wildlife, or quality of water for even more fracking.