CHAPTER 1517: DIVISION OF NATURAL AREAS AND PRESERVES

As used in Chapter 1517. of the Revised Code:

(A) “Natural area” means an area of land or water which either retains to some degree or has re-established its natural character, although it need not be completely undisturbed, or has unusual flora, fauna, geological, archeological, scenic, or similar features of scientific or educational interest.

(B) “Nature preserve” means an area which is formally dedicated under section 1517.05 of the Revised Code.

Effective Date: 08-31-1970

There is hereby created in the department of natural resources the division of natural areas and preserves, which shall be administered by the chief of natural areas and preserves. The chief shall take an oath of office and shall file in the office of the secretary of state a bond signed by the chief and by a surety approved by the governor for a sum fixed pursuant to section 121.11 of the Revised Code.

The chief shall administer a system of nature preserves and wild, scenic, and recreational river areas. The chief shall establish a system of nature preserves through acquisition and dedication of natural areas of state or national significance, which shall include, but not be limited to, areas that represent characteristic examples of Ohio’s natural landscape types and its natural vegetation and geological history. The chief shall encourage landowners to dedicate areas of unusual significance as nature preserves, and shall establish and maintain a registry of natural areas of unusual significance.

The chief may supervise, operate, protect, and maintain wild, scenic, and recreational river areas, as designated by the director of natural resources. The chief may cooperate with federal agencies administering any federal program concerning wild, scenic, or recreational river areas.

The chief shall do the following:

(A) Formulate policies and plans for the acquisition, use, management, and protection of nature preserves;

(B) Formulate policies for the selection of areas suitable for registration;

(C) Formulate policies for the dedication of areas as nature preserves;

(D) Prepare and maintain surveys and inventories of natural areas , rare and endangered species of plants and animals, and other unique natural features. The information shall be stored in the Ohio natural heritage database, established pursuant to this division, and may be made available to any individual or private or public agency for research, educational, environmental, land management, or other similar purposes that are not detrimental to the conservation of a species or feature. Information regarding sensitive site locations of species that are listed pursuant to section 1518.01 of the Revised Code and of unique natural features that are included in the Ohio natural heritage database is not subject to section 149.43 of the Revised Code if the chief determines that the release of the information could be detrimental to the conservation of a species or unique natural feature.

(E) Adopt rules for the use, visitation, and protection of nature preserves, natural areas owned or managed through easement, license, or lease by the department and administered by the division, and lands owned or managed through easement, license, or lease by the department and administered by the division that are within or adjacent to any wild, scenic, or recreational river area, in accordance with Chapter 119. of the Revised Code;

(F) Provide facilities and improvements within the state system of nature preserves that are necessary for their visitation, use, restoration, and protection and do not impair their natural character;

(G) Provide interpretive programs and publish and disseminate information pertaining to nature preserves and natural areas for their visitation and use;

(H) Conduct and grant permits to qualified persons for the conduct of scientific research and investigations within nature preserves;

(I) Establish an appropriate system for marking nature preserves;

(J) Publish and submit to the governor and the general assembly a biennial report of the status and condition of each nature preserve, activities conducted within each preserve, and plans and recommendations for natural area preservation.

Effective Date: 05-03-1990; 12-30-2004; 06-27-2005; 09-29-2005; 04-06-2007

No person shall violate any rule adopted pursuant to division (E) of section 1517.02 of the Revised Code.

Effective Date: 03-23-1973

Effective Date: 12-30-2004

The department of natural resources, for and on behalf of the state, shall acquire a system of nature preserves for the following uses and purposes:

(A) For scientific research in such fields as ecology, taxonomy, genetics, forestry, pharmacology, agriculture, soil science, geology, paleontology, conservation, and similar fields;

(B) For the teaching of biology, natural history, ecology, geology, conservation, and other subjects;

(C) As habitats for plant and animal species and communities and other natural objects;

(D) As reservoirs of natural materials;

(E) As places of natural interest and beauty;

(F) For visitation whereby persons may observe and experience natural biotic and environmental systems of the earth and their processes;

(G) To promote understanding and appreciation of the aesthetic, cultural, scientific, and spiritual values of such areas by the people of the state;

(H) For the preservation and protection of nature preserves against modification or encroachment resulting from occupation, development, or other use that would destroy their natural or aesthetic conditions.

The director of natural resources shall accept natural areas by articles of dedication or gift, provided that funds and services are available for their preservation and protection.

A nature preserve is established when articles of dedication have been filed by or at the direction of the owner of land, or a governmental agency having ownership or control thereof, in the office of the county recorder of the county in which the land is located.

Articles of dedication shall be executed by the owner of the land in the same manner and with the same effect as a conveyance of an interest in land and shall be irrevocable except as provided in this section. The county recorder may not accept articles of dedication for recording unless they have been accepted by the director of natural resources. The director may not accept articles of dedication unless they contain terms restricting the use of the land that adequately provide for its preservation and protection against modification or encroachment resulting from occupation, development, or other use that would destroy its natural or aesthetic conditions for one or more of the uses and purposes set forth in this section. Wherever possible and consistent with such preservation and protection of the land, the articles shall provide for public access in order that the maximum benefit be obtained for the uses and purposes stated in this section.

Articles of dedication may contain provisions for the management, custody, and transfer of land, provisions defining the rights of the owner or operating agency, and the department, and other provisions necessary or advisable to carry out the uses and purposes for which the land is dedicated. They may contain conditions under which the owner and the director of natural resources may agree to rescind the articles.

The attorney general, upon request of the director of natural resources, may bring an action for injunction in any court of competent jurisdiction to enforce the terms of articles of dedication.

The department may make or accept amendments of any articles of dedication upon terms and conditions that will not destroy the natural or aesthetic conditions of a preserve. If the fee simple interest in the area or preserve is not held by the state, no amendments shall be made without the written consent of the owner. Each amendment shall be recorded in the same manner as the articles of dedication.

Effective Date: 06-06-2003; 12-30-2004

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.

Effective Date: 03-23-1973

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 approved by and subject to rules established by the chief of the division of natural areas and preserves. They shall not be taken for any other use except another public use after a finding by the department of natural resources of the existence of an imperative and unavoidable public necessity for such other public use and with the approval of the governor. Except as may otherwise be provided in the articles of dedication, the department may grant, upon such terms and conditions as it may determine, an estate, interest, or right in, or dispose of, a nature preserve, but only after a finding by the department of the existence of an imperative and unavoidable public necessity for the grant or disposition and with the approval of the governor.

Effective Date: 06-06-2003

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 in section 1517.06 of the Revised Code, it shall give notice of the proposed action and an opportunity for any person to be heard at a public hearing in the county in which the preserve is located. In the event the preserve is located in more than one county, the public hearing shall be held in the most populous county. The notice shall be published at least once in a newspaper with a general circulation in the county in which the nature preserve is located. The notice shall set forth the substance of the proposed action and describe, with or without legal description, the nature preserve affected, and shall specify a place and time not less than thirty days after the publication for a public hearing before the department on the proposed action. All persons desiring to be heard shall have a reasonable opportunity to be heard prior to action by the department on the proposal.

Effective Date: 06-06-2003

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 jurisdiction in accordance with section 1517.05 of the Revised Code.

Effective Date: 08-31-1970

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 administering an area dedicated as a nature preserve under section 1517.05 of the Revised Code shall be responsible for preserving the character of the area in accordance with the articles of dedication and the applicable rules with respect thereto established by the chief of the division of natural areas and preserves. Neither the dedication of an area as a nature preserve nor any action taken by the department under any of the provisions of this chapter shall void or replace any protective status under law which the area would have were it not a nature preserve and the protective provisions of this chapter shall be supplemental thereto.

Effective Date: 09-01-1976

(A) As used in this section, “felony” has the same meaning as in section 109.511 of the Revised Code.

(B)(1) Any person selected by the chief of the division of natural areas and preserves for custodial or patrol service on the lands and waters operated or administered by the division shall be employed in conformity with the law applicable to the classified civil service of the state. Subject to division (C) of this section, the chief may designate that person as a preserve officer. A preserve officer, in any nature preserve, in any natural area owned or managed through easement, license, or lease by the department of natural resources and administered by the division, and on lands owned or managed through easement, license, or lease by the department and administered by the division that are within or adjacent to any wild, scenic, or recreational river area established under this chapter and along any trail established under Chapter 1519. of the Revised Code, has the authority specified under section 2935.03 of the Revised Code for peace officers of the department of natural resources to keep the peace, to enforce all laws and rules governing those lands and waters, and to make arrests for violation of those laws and rules, provided that the authority shall be exercised on lands or waters administered by another division of the department only pursuant to an agreement with the chief of that division or to a request for assistance by an enforcement officer of that division in an emergency. A preserve officer, in or along any watercourse within, abutting, or upstream from the boundary of any area administered by the department, has the authority to enforce section 3767.32 of the Revised Code and any other laws prohibiting the dumping of refuse into or along waters and to make arrests for violation of those laws. The jurisdiction of a preserve officer shall be concurrent with that of the peace officers of the county, township, or municipal corporation in which the violation occurs.

The governor, upon the recommendation of the chief, shall issue to each preserve officer a commission indicating authority to make arrests as provided in this section.

The chief shall furnish a suitable badge to each commissioned preserve officer as evidence of the preserve officer’s authority.

(2) If any person employed under this section is designated by the chief to act as an agent of the state in the collection of money resulting from the sale of licenses, fees of any nature, or other money belonging to the state, the chief shall require a surety bond from the person in an amount not less than one thousand dollars.

(3) A preserve officer may render assistance to a state or local law enforcement officer at the request of the officer or in the event of an emergency. Preserve officers serving outside the division of natural areas and preserves under this section or serving under the terms of a mutual aid compact authorized under section 1501.02 of the Revised Code shall be considered as performing services within their regular employment for the purposes of compensation, pension or indemnity fund rights, workers’ compensation, and other rights or benefits to which they may be entitled as incidents of their regular employment.

Preserve officers serving outside the division of natural areas and preserves under this section or under the terms of a mutual aid compact retain personal immunity from civil liability as specified in section 9.86 of the Revised Code and shall not be considered an employee of a political subdivision for purposes of Chapter 2744. of the Revised Code. A political subdivision that uses preserve officers under this section or under the terms of a mutual aid compact authorized under section 1501.02 of the Revised Code is not subject to civil liability under Chapter 2744. of the Revised Code as a result of any action or omission of any preserve officer acting under this section or under a mutual aid compact.

(C)(1) The chief of the division of natural areas and preserves shall not designate a person as a preserve officer pursuant to division (B)(1) of this section on a permanent basis, on a temporary basis, for a probationary term, or on other than a permanent basis if the person previously has been convicted of or has pleaded guilty to a felony.

(2)(a) The chief of the division of natural areas and preserves shall terminate the employment as a preserve officer of a person designated as a preserve officer under division (B)(1) of this section if that person does either of the following:

(i) Pleads guilty to a felony;

(ii) Pleads guilty to a misdemeanor pursuant to a negotiated plea agreement as provided in division (D) of section 2929.43 of the Revised Code in which the preserve officer agrees to surrender the certificate awarded to the preserve officer under section 109.77 of the Revised Code.

(b) The chief shall suspend from employment as a preserve officer a person designated as a preserve officer under division (B)(1) of this section if that person is convicted, after trial, of a felony. If the preserve officer files an appeal from that conviction and the conviction is upheld by the highest court to which the appeal is taken or if the preserve officer does not file a timely appeal, the chief shall terminate the employment of that preserve officer. If the preserve officer files an appeal that results in the preserve officer’s acquittal of the felony or conviction of a misdemeanor, or in the dismissal of the felony charge against the preserve officer, the chief shall reinstate that preserve officer. A preserve officer who is reinstated under division (C)(2)(b) of this section shall not receive any back pay unless that preserve officer’s conviction of the felony was reversed on appeal, or the felony charge was dismissed, because the court found insufficient evidence to convict the preserve officer of the felony.

(3) Division (C) of this section does not apply regarding an offense that was committed prior to January 1, 1997.

(4) The suspension from employment, or the termination of the employment, of a preserve officer under division (C)(2) of this section shall be in accordance with Chapter 119. of the Revised Code.

Effective Date: 01-01-2004; 04-06-2007

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 addition to or independently of the income tax refund contribution system established in that section.

Moneys in the fund shall be disbursed pursuant to vouchers approved by the director of natural resources for use by the division of natural areas and preserves solely for the following purposes:

(A) The acquisition of new or expanded natural areas, nature preserves, and wild, scenic, and recreational river areas;

(B) Facility development in natural areas, nature preserves, and wild, scenic, and recreational river areas;

(C) Special projects, including, but not limited to, biological inventories, research grants, and the production of interpretive material related to natural areas, nature preserves, and wild, scenic, and recreational river areas;

(D) Routine maintenance for health and safety purposes.

Moneys appropriated from the fund shall not be used to fund salaries of permanent employees or administrative costs.

All investment earnings of the fund shall be credited to the fund.

Effective Date: 06-30-1997; 04-06-2007

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 nature preserve. The moneys in the fund shall be derived from gifts, donations, bequests, and other moneys for the purposes for which the fund is created. The treasurer of state shall be the custodian of the fund, which shall not be a part of the state treasury. The principal in the fund shall not be expended. Only earnings from investments shall be expended for the purposes for which the fund is created. All disbursements from the fund shall be paid by the treasurer of state upon requisitions signed by the director of natural resources or his designee.

Effective Date: 02-11-1988

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 vouchers approved by the director of natural resources for use by the division of natural areas and preserves in the department of natural resources solely for preservation, management, land acquisition, and educational programs at the lake Katharine nature preserve.

Effective Date: 02-11-1988

As used in sections 1517.14 to 1517.18 of the Revised Code, “watercourse” means a substantially natural channel with recognized banks and bottom, in which a flow of water occurs, with an average of at least ten feet mean surface water width and at least five miles of length. The director of natural resources or the director’s representative may create, supervise, operate, protect, and maintain wild, scenic, and recreational river areas under the classifications established in section 1517.15 of the Revised Code. The director or the director’s representative may prepare and maintain a plan for the establishment, development, use, and administration of those areas as a part of the comprehensive state plans for water management and outdoor recreation. The director or the director’s representative may cooperate with federal agencies administering any federal program concerning wild, scenic, or recreational river areas.

The director may propose for establishment as a wild, scenic, or recreational river area a part or parts of any watercourse in this state, with adjacent lands, that in the director’s judgment possesses water conservation, scenic, fish, wildlife, historic, or outdoor recreation values that should be preserved, using the classifications established in section 1517.15 of the Revised Code. The area shall include lands adjacent to the watercourse in sufficient width to preserve, protect, and develop the natural character of the watercourse, but shall not include any lands more than one thousand feet from the normal waterlines of the watercourse unless an additional width is necessary to preserve water conservation, scenic, fish, wildlife, historic, or outdoor recreation values.

The director shall publish the intention to declare an area a wild, scenic, or recreational river area at least once in a newspaper of general circulation in each county, any part of which is within the area, and shall send written notice of the intention to the legislative authority of each county, township, and municipal corporation and to each conservancy district established under Chapter 6101. of the Revised Code, any part of which is within the area, and to the director of transportation, the director of development, the director of administrative services, and the director of environmental protection. The notices shall include a copy of a map and description of the area.

After thirty days from the last date of publication or dispatch of written notice as required in this section, the director shall enter a declaration in the director’s journal that the area is a wild, scenic, or recreational river area. When so entered, the area is a wild, scenic, or recreational river area. The director, after thirty days’ notice as prescribed in this section and upon the approval of the recreation and resources commission created in section 1501.04 of the Revised Code, may terminate the status of an area as a wild, scenic, or recreational river area by an entry in the director’s journal.

Declaration by the director that an area is a wild, scenic, or recreational river area does not authorize the director or any governmental agency or political subdivision to restrict the use of land by the owner thereof or any person acting under the landowner’s authority or to enter upon the land and does not expand or abridge the regulatory authority of any governmental agency or political subdivision over the area.

The chief of the division of natural areas and preserves or the chief’s representative may participate in watershed-wide planning with federal, state, and local agencies in order to protect the values of wild, scenic, and recreational river areas.

Effective Date: 03-18-1999

As used in this section, “impoundment” means the reservoir created by a dam or other artificial barrier across a watercourse that causes water to be stored deeper than and generally beyond the banks of the natural channel of the watercourse during periods of normal flow, but does not include water stored behind rock piles, rock riffle dams, and low channel dams where the depth of water is less than ten feet above the channel bottom and is essentially confined within the banks of the natural channel during periods of normal stream flow.

In creating wild, scenic, or recreational river areas, the director of natural resources shall use the following classifications:

(A) “Wild river areas” to include those rivers or sections of rivers that are free of impoundments and generally inaccessible except by trail, with watersheds or shorelines essentially primitive and waters unpolluted, representing vestiges of primitive America;

(B) “Scenic river areas” to include those rivers or sections of rivers that are free of impoundments, with shorelines or watersheds still largely primitive and shorelines largely undeveloped, but accessible in places by roads;

(C) “Recreational river areas” to include those rivers or sections of rivers that are readily accessible by road or railroad, that may have some development along their shorelines, and that may have undergone some impoundment or diversion in the past.

Effective Date: 10-20-1994

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 a wild, scenic, or recreational river area outside the limits of a municipal corporation without first having obtained approval of the plans for the highway, road, or structure or channel modification from the director of natural resources or his representative. The court of common pleas having jurisdiction, upon petition by the director, shall enjoin work on any highway, road, or structure or channel modification for which such approval has not been obtained.

Effective Date: 10-20-1994

The chief of the division of natural areas and preserves may administer federal financial assistance programs for wild, scenic, and recreational river areas.

The director of natural resources may make a lease or agreement with a political subdivision to administer all or part of a wild, scenic, or recreational river area.

The director may acquire real property or any estate, right, or interest therein for protection and public recreational use as a wild, scenic, or recreational river area.

The chief may expend funds for the acquisition, protection, construction, maintenance, and administration of real property and public use facilities in wild, scenic, or recreational river areas when the funds are so appropriated by the general assembly. The chief may condition such expenditures, acquisition of land or easements, or construction of facilities within a wild, scenic, or recreational river area upon adoption and enforcement of adequate floodplain zoning rules.

Any instrument by which real property is acquired pursuant to this section shall identify the agency of the state that has the use and benefit of the real property as specified in section 5301.012 of the Revised Code.

Effective Date: 10-26-1999

The director of natural resources shall appoint an advisory council for each wild, scenic, or recreational river area, composed of not more than ten persons who are representative of local government and local organizations and interests in the vicinity of the wild, scenic, or recreational river area, who shall serve without compensation. The chief of the division of natural areas and preserves or his representative shall serve as an ex officio member of each council.

The terms of all members serving on any advisory council under this section on the effective date of this amendment shall end on January 31, 1995. The director shall appoint new members to serve on each council for terms beginning on February 1, 1995, provided that a member serving on a council on the effective date of this amendment may be appointed to such a new term. The initial members appointed to each council shall serve for terms of not more than three years, with the terms of not more than four members of any council ending in the same year. Thereafter, terms of office shall be for three years commencing on the first day of February and ending on the last day of January.

Each council shall advise the chief on the acquisition of land and easements and on the lands and waters that should be included in a wild, scenic, or recreational river area or a proposed wild, scenic, or recreational river area, facilities therein, and other aspects of establishment and administration of the area that may affect the local interest.

Effective Date: 10-20-1994

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, sinkhole, cavern, pit, natural well, pothole, or subsurface water and drainage system.

(B) “Cave life” means any organism that naturally occurs in, uses, visits, or inhabits any cave, except those animals that are permitted to be taken under Chapter 1533. of the Revised Code.

(C) “Material” includes:

(1) Any speleothem, whether attached or broken, found in a cave;

(2) Any clay or mud formation or concretion or sedimentary deposit found in a cave;

(3) Any scallop, rill, or other corrosional or corrosional feature of a cave;

(4) Any wall or ceiling of a cave or any other part of the speleogen.

(D) “Owner” means any person having title to land in which a cave is located.

(E) “Speleothem” means any stalactite, stalagmite, or other natural mineral formation or deposit occurring in a cave.

(F) “Speleogen” means the surrounding material or bedrock in which a cave is formed, including walls, floors, ceilings, and similar related structural and geological components.

(G) “Sinkhole” means a closed topographic depression or basin generally draining underground, including, without limitation, a blind valley, swallowhole, or sink.

(H) “Hazard” means a risk of serious physical harm to persons or property.

Effective Date: 03-22-1989

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 of great scientific and historic value. It is further found that species of cave life are unusual and of limited numbers; that many are rare, threatened, or endangered species; and that caves are a natural conduit for groundwater flow and are highly subject to water pollution, thus having far-reaching effects transcending man’s property boundaries. It is therefore declared to be the policy of the general assembly to protect these unique and great natural, historical, scientific, and cultural resources.

Effective Date: 03-22-1989

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 with Chapter 119. of the Revised Code to implement that program;

(B) Provide technical assistance and management advice to owners upon request concerning the protection of caves on their land.

Effective Date: 03-22-1989; 12-30-2004; 06-27-2005

(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, deface, mark, or disturb the surfaces of any cave or any natural material found in any cave, whether attached or broken, including, without limitation, speleothems, speleogens, and sedimentary deposits;

(2) Break, force, tamper with, or otherwise disturb any lock, door, gate, or other device designed to limit control, or prevent access to or entry into a cave;

(3) Remove, deface, or tamper with any posted sign giving notice against unauthorized access to or presence in a cave or citing any of the provisions of sections 1517.21 to 1517.26 or division (B) of section 1517.99 of the Revised Code;

(4) Place refuse, garbage, dead animals, sewage, or toxic substances harmful to cave life or humans in a cave;

(5) Burn within a cave any substance other than acetylene gas burned in a carbide lamp that produces smoke or gas that is harmful to cave life;

(6) Use any door, gate, or other device designed to limit, control, or prevent access to or entry into a cave that does not allow free and unimpeded passage of air, water, and cave life;

(7) Excavate or remove historic or prehistoric ruins, burial grounds, or archaeological or paleontological sites found in a cave, including, without limitation, saltpeter workings, relics, inscriptions, fossilized footprints, and bones;

(8) Remove, kill, harm, or disturb any cave life found within a cave.

(B) 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 purposely destroy, injure, or deface historic or prehistoric ruins, burial grounds, or archaeological or paleontological sites found in a cave, including, without limitation, saltpeter workings, relics, inscriptions, fossilized footprints, and bones.

Effective Date: 03-22-1989

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

Effective Date: 03-22-1989

(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 that the premises are safe for such purposes;

(2) Confer on the permittee the legal status of an invitee or licensee to whom a duty of care is owed;

(3) Assume responsibility for or incur liability for any injury, death, or loss to person or property caused by an act or omission of a permittee.

(B) This section does not limit the liability which otherwise exists for injury, death, or loss to persons or property caused by an act or omission of the owner or lessee as follows:

(1) Negligent failure to warn the permittee against a hazard of which the owner or lessee had actual knowledge prior to the permittee’s entry on the land;

(2) Willful or wanton misconduct;

(3) Intentionally tortious conduct.

Effective Date: 03-22-1989

(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 included on a list prepared under section 1518.01 of the Revised Code is guilty of a misdemeanor of the third degree for a first offense. For each subsequent offense, the person is guilty of a misdemeanor of the second degree.

(B) Whoever violates division (A) of section 1517.24 or section 1517.25 of the Revised Code is guilty of a misdemeanor of the third degree.

(C) Whoever violates division (B) of section 1517.24 of the Revised Code is guilty of a misdemeanor of the second degree.

(D) Whoever violates section 1517.051 of the Revised Code is guilty of a misdemeanor of the first degree.

Effective Date: 03-18-1999