Title 15, Title 15. Conservation of Natural Resources

No person shall violate any terms or conditions of the articles of dedication of a nature preserve accepted by the director and filed with the county recorder. The director may order any person to cease and desist from any such violation. No person shall violate any such order.

Nature preserves dedicated under section 1517.05 of the Revised Code are to be held in trust, for the uses and purposes set forth in that section, for the benefit of the people of the state of present and future generations. They shall be managed and protected in the manner appro…

Before the department of natural resources makes any finding of the existence of an imperative and unavoidable public necessity, or grants any estate, interest, or right in a nature preserve or disposes of a nature preserve or of any estate, interest, or right therein as provided…

All departments, agencies, units, instrumentalities, and political subdivisions of the state, including, counties, townships, municipal corporations, park districts, conservancy districts, universities, colleges, and school districts, may dedicate natural areas under their jurisd…

Nothing contained in this chapter shall be construed as interfering with the purposes stated in the establishment of or pertaining to any state or local park, forest, preserve, wildlife refuge or other area or the proper management and development thereof, except that any agency …

(A) There is hereby created in the state treasury the natural areas and preserves fund, which shall consist of moneys transferred into it under section 5747.113 of the Revised Code and of contributions made directly to it. Any person may contribute directly to the fund in additio…

There is hereby created the lake Katharine management trust fund, which shall be administered by the division of natural areas and preserves in the department of natural resources for preservation, management, land acquisition, and educational programs at the lake Katharine natur…

There is hereby created in the state treasury the lake Katharine management fund. All investment earnings of the lake Katharine management trust fund created in section 1517.12 of the Revised Code shall be credited to the fund created in this section and disbursed pursuant to vou…

(A) The director of natural resources may create wild, scenic, and recreational rivers. The chief of the division of natural areas and preserves shall supervise, operate, protect, and maintain wild, scenic, and recreational rivers so created. In creating wild, scenic, and recreat…

No state department, state agency, or political subdivision shall build or enlarge any highway, road, or structure or modify or cause the modification of the channel of any watercourse within one thousand feet of a wild, scenic, or recreational river outside the limits of a munic…

(A) The chief of the division of natural areas and preserves may accept and administer state and federal financial assistance for the maintenance, protection, and administration of wild, scenic, and recreational rivers and scenic river lands and for construction of facilities on …

The chief of the division of natural areas and preserves, with the approval of the director of natural resources, shall appoint an advisory council for each wild, scenic, or recreational river. Each advisory council shall be composed of not more than ten persons who are represent…

The chief of the division of natural areas and preserves, with the approval of the director of natural resources, may participate in the federal program for the protection of certain selected rivers that are located within the boundaries of the state as provided in the "Wild and …

Any action taken by the chief of the division of natural areas and preserves under sections 1517.14 to 1517.19 of the Revised Code shall not be deemed in conflict with certain powers and duties conferred on and delegated to federal agencies and to municipal corporations under Sec…

As used in sections 1517.21 to 1517.26 of the Revised Code:(A) "Cave" means a naturally occurring void, cavity, recess, or system of interconnecting passages beneath the surface of the earth or within a cliff or ledge, including, without limitation, a grotto, rock shelter, sinkho…

The general assembly hereby finds that caves are uncommon geologic phenomena and that the minerals deposited in them may be rare and occur in unique forms of great beauty that are irreplaceable if destroyed. Also irreplaceable are the archeological resources in caves, which are o…

The chief of the division of natural areas and preserves shall do both of the following:(A) Formulate policies and plans and establish a program incorporating them for the identification and protection of the state's cave resources and adopt, amend, or rescind rules in accordance…

(A) Without the express written permission of the owner and, if the owner has leased the land, without the express written permission of the lessee, no person shall knowingly:(1) Break, break off, crack, carve on, write on, mark on, burn, remove, or in any other manner destroy, d…

No person shall sell or offer for sale speleothems collected from caves in this state.

(A) Owners and, if the owner has leased the land, the lessee, are not liable for injuries, death, or loss sustained by any permittee on their land if no charge has been made. By granting permission for entry, the owner or lessee does not:(1) Extend to the permittee any assurance …

(A)(1) Except as provided in division (A)(2) of this section, whoever violates section 1517.021 of the Revised Code is guilty of a minor misdemeanor.(2) Whoever violates section 1517.021 of the Revised Code with regard to a species of plant identified in a rule adopted under or i…