NELSONVILLE — On Thursday from 11 a.m. until 12:45 p.m., the Wayne National Forest invites the public to attend its 75th Anniversary Open House at the forest headquarters, located off U.S. Hwy 33 between Athens and Nelsonville.

The forest will hold a public ceremony beginning at 11 a.m. After the event, the forest headquarters will be open until 12:45 pm for public tours of its facilities. The forest will host tours of the historic fire tower located on site.

The planning for a national forest in Ohio started in 1934, when Ohio leaders passed the Consent Act of 1934, allowing the federal government to begin purchasing public lands. On Nov. 12, 1935, with the purchase of almost 43 acres in Lawrence County, a national forest was born.

Since the first land purchase, the Wayne National Forest has grown to more than 241,000 acres with lands in 12 counties. Today, a workforce of 70 full-time employees manage the forest for a number of multiple uses, including recreation, timber, minerals, water, grazing, fish and wildlife.

The Wayne National Forest is managed by the forest service, an agency within the U.S. Department of Agriculture that has existed for more than 100 years.

The forest is one of 155 national forests, 20 national grasslands, and 222 research and experimental forests that cover more than 192 million acres of public land in the United States.

To learn more about the Wayne National Forest, visit our forest web site at www.fs.usda.gov/wayne or call (740) 753-0101.