Ohio’s forest fire management developed from the establishment of the State Forestry Bureau in 1885 through the creation of the state forest system in 1915, the erection of the first fire tower in 1922, and the construction of 39 fire towers across the state, with the last built in 1970. During 1933 to 1935, Civilian Conservation Corps crews helped suppress forest fires and built fire towers and a forest fire control telephone network. In 1942, the Division of Forestry began using Civil Air Patrol aircraft for fire detection, making Ohio one of the first states to use aircraft regularly for that purpose. The Ohio Department of Natural Resources was formed in 1949, and from 1952 to 1954 severe drought contributed to some of the worst fire seasons in the state’s history, with forestry personnel, local fire departments, parks and wildlife employees, and the Ohio National Guard all helping fight fires. In 1969, 1,803 forest fires burned nearly 13,000 acres, and by 1978 fire tower use ended because of land use changes and advances in air detection. Beginning in 1986, Ohio sent fire crews to assist with Western wildfires, and in 1988 legislation ended burning permits and established a 6 a.m. to 5 p.m. burn ban during March, April, May, October, and November. By 2000, prescribed fire had become a widespread forest management tool in Ohio, benefiting forest health, wildlife habitat, and timber production. The Mohican Fire Tower in Mohican-Memorial State Forest was built in 1934 and stands 80 feet tall. Mohican-Memorial State Forest now includes more than 4,520 acres; land acquisition began in 1928, when the area had been heavily damaged by erosion, and tree planting became a high priority. Civilian Conservation Corps crews based in the forest during the 1930s carried out most of the reforestation that produced the red and white pine stands seen there today. In Ohio’s forests before European settlement, Native Americans frequently burned the understory to ease travel and aid hunting, and settlers later used fire to clear land and brush. Today, low-intensity prescribed fire remains important in sustaining Ohio’s oak-dominated woodlands because oak species are more fire resistant than species such as maple. Prescribed fire also aids oak regeneration, enriches soil, cycles nutrients, and reduces accumulated debris on the forest floor.