Ohio budget bill boosts wildlife land access for hunters and trappers

Governor Mike DeWine signed Senate Bill 450 on June 15, 2026, putting $25 million toward Ohio wildlife and forestry land acquisition, and that pot can grow fast if federal matching money comes through. For shed hunters, trappers, and anyone who lives out of a truck on public land, the practical payoff is simple: more connected acres, fewer dead-end parcels, and better odds of finding fresh sign without fighting the same crowded corners.

What the capital budget puts on the map

Senate Bill 450 is Ohio’s 2026 capital appropriations bill for the biennium ending June 30, 2028. Certain sections took effect July 1, 2026. The full capital budget totals $3.7 billion, with money spread across parks, schools, behavioral health, correctional facilities, and other state priorities, but the line that matters in the woods is the one for state wildlife and forestry land acquisition.

Sportsmen’s Alliance has pushed that land money for years; the effort had backing from Vivek Ramaswamy, Senate President Rob McColley, and House Speaker Matt Huffman. Sportsmen’s Alliance President and CEO Evan Heusinkveld has framed the need bluntly: Ohio sportsmen need more land for hunting, trapping, fishing, and recreational shooting. The push dates to 2018, when the group began pressing DeWine, then incoming governor, to make land acquisition a priority.

Why southern and southeastern Ohio matter most

The acquisitions are expected in southern and southeastern Ohio, and they are likely to border existing wildlife and forestry lands. A new parcel tied to an existing block of habitat adds more than acreage on paper, because connected ground gives deer, turkeys, and other wildlife room to move without immediately spilling into private fences or road edges.

Ohio Department of Natural Resources already owns and manages more than 800,000 acres statewide, including 24 state forests and 150 wildlife areas. Ohio still depends on scattered public holdings that can get hammered when pressure concentrates on a few known access points. Additions in the south and southeast would help fill gaps where public land is thin.

How $25 million can stretch a lot farther

The useful number may be closer to twice that. The line item can be leveraged with matching federal dollars to roughly double the available acquisition money.

The Wildlife Restoration Program, first authorized by the Pittman-Robertson Act of 1937, can support public access, wildlife area acquisition and management, hunter education, and shooting ranges. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service puts total wildlife and sport fish restoration funding to state fish and wildlife agencies at more than $71 billion. The Land and Water Conservation Fund can reimburse up to 50% for eligible acquisition, development, and rehabilitation projects for state and local entities, which is why a state match can turn one appropriation into much more ground on the landscape.

What this means for shed hunters and trappers

If you spend late winter and early spring walking timber edges for sheds, these acres matter immediately. More public land means more places to scout wintering deer sign, more room to move without bumping into private-land boundaries, and less dependence on a handful of overcrowded parcels that get picked clean by opening weekend pressure. When acquisitions border existing wildlife and forestry lands, shed hunting gets better in a very specific way: you can work bigger loops, follow bedding cover farther, and cover ground that is more likely to hold deer through the cold months.

Trappers also benefit from that same access logic. Public lands matter for wildlife habitat as well as recreation, and the larger the connected habitat block, the more usable it is for people trying to work ethically and efficiently without crowding.

Ohio already has access tools, but this fills an important gap

Ohio’s access base is broader than just state-owned acreage. The Ohio Division of Wildlife’s Landowner/Hunter Access Partnership program has enrolled nearly 31,000 acres since its 2021 launch, and the department also runs controlled hunting access lotteries for white-tailed deer, turkey, waterfowl, and trapping.