A federal proposal to rename Ohio’s Wayne National Park because its American Revolutionary leader eponym participated in the genocide of Native Americans has sparked ire from lawmakers and residents alike.
The US Department of Agriculture Forest Service announced over the summer that it was considering renaming the park at the behest of local tribal leaders who say that Revolutionary War Gen. Anthony Wayne led efforts to remove Native Americans from the area in 1794.
The Forest Service is considering renaming the sprawling forest the “Buckeye National Forest,” which would echo Ohio’s state nickname as the “Buckeye State.”
Other options include “The Ohio National Forest” and the “Koteewa National Forest,” after a Miami Tribe word for “fires” — in homage to the role burns play in forest management and regeneration.
“Our intention is to listen to Tribal Nations and community members and take the actions needed to better serve them,” Forest Supervisor Lee Stewart said in a statement at the time.
The agency added that the effort to change the name to “Buckeye National Forest” is “based in respect and inclusion for all of Ohio’s communities and seeks to ensure the name of these federal lands is representative of all who value the national forest.”
“It also follows multiple policy directives and is consistent with Agency efforts to advance equity and inclusion.”
The current eponym of the forest, Anthony Wayne, lived in Pennsylvania and was summoned by President George Washington to get rid of the confederation of Native Americans in what later became Ohio.
He was also a “proud slaveholder,” owning more than 50 people, according to Cleveland.com.
But Republican lawmakers representing the state argue his legacy should be preserved.
Just days after the Forest Service announced its proposal, Sen. JD Vance (R-Ohio) sent a letter disagreeing with the proposed name change.
“This federal effort denigrates Ohio history and represents a lack of fidelity to our nation’s founding generation,” he wrote, before launching into a history of Wayne’s accomplishments.
Vance said Wayne “answered the call of his infant country” in 1775 and “raised a militia unit to secure American independence” by going into modern-day Ohio and leading soldiers to beat the British and Native allies.
“This federal effort denigrates Ohio history and represents a lack of fidelity to our nation’s founding generation,” he wrote, before launching into a history of Wayne’s accomplishments.
“This … ended the Northwest Indian War and established an official border between the US and the Confederacy, opening much of Ohio to American settlement and recognizing Indiana as Indian territory,” he wrote.
He also called the proposal “part of a wider federal trend that is is replacing real people with abstract things and real histories with anecdotes,” and said he was alarmed with the agency’s refusal to mention the compromise Wayne made with Native American leaders to keep them away from newly-settled land.
“Wayne historically served our nation at a time when its continued existence was not a foregone conclusion,” Vance concluded. “He fought wars and won peace for our government, the government that you now serve, and hewed Ohio out of rugged wilderness and occupied enemy territory.
“Just as the United States would not exist without George Washington, Ohio would not exist without Anthony Wayne,” he continued.
“Unfortunately, I am left to conclude that the USDA possesses such a low opinion of Ohioans that you believe us incapable of appreciating the complexities of American history.”
Vance wrote another letter on Sept. 7, this time partnering with Rep. Warren Davidson.
“There are instances in our history where great men accomplished extraordinary things, and they deserve to be honored and remembered for it. Gen. Wayne is one of those men,” they wrote.