News Release

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

November 28, 2007

PROPERTY PURCHASED IN WAYNE & ASHLAND COUNTIES

FOR PUBLIC WILDLIFE-RELATED RECREATION

Partnership purchase provides more opportunities for outdoor enthusiasts

AKRON, OHIO – Nearly 60-acres stretching across the Ashland/Wayne county line have been purchased for public wildlife-related recreation, according to the ODNR Division of Wildlife.

As an addition to the wildlife-rich Funk Bottoms Wildlife Area in Wayne County, the 58-acre parcel was purchased for $45,600 using funds entirely from the Wayne County Community Foundation’s Charles W. and Mary K. Mohler Memorial Ohio Wildlife Fund.

"It was the wish of the Mohlers to preserve wildlife in their natural habitat," said Ferenc M. Relle, Jr., Executive Director of the Wayne County Community Foundation, "and since their endowment fund was established, over 200 acres have been preserved to realize their dream."

The new addition will open immediately for public hunting, fishing, and trapping opportunities as well as wildlife watching, hiking, and nature study. Approximately 30-acres of the parcel includes cropland; the other portion, approximately 28-acres, consists of wetland and bottomland habitat along approximately 1,000 feet of the Muddy Fork of the Mohican River. The adjacent Funk Bottoms Wildlife Area is well-known by wildlife watchers for a large diversity of wildlife including bald eagles and rarer species such as state endangered sandhill cranes. Funk Bottoms and this new undeveloped parcel are owned and managed by the ODNR Division of Wildlife.

-30-

For more information contact:

Division of Wildlife

Dan Kramer, wildlife management supervisor

330-644-2293

-or-

Jamey Graham, wildlife communication specialist

330-644-2293

-or-

Ferenc M. Relle, Jr. Wayne County Community Foundation

(330) 262-3877