The Great Ohio Climate March Begins in Appalachia and Marches to Columbus

Ohioans will march from May 16–28 to call for State House action on climate change

[ATHENS, OHIO, MARCH 2026]—A group of Ohioans concerned about our environment is hosting a 100+ mile hike from the hills of Appalachia to the Statehouse in Columbus to call for a sustainable future for all Ohioans. The hike will start in Athens, Ohio on Saturday, May 16, and will conclude on Thursday, May 28 at the Statehouse in Columbus. Mid-march will be a rest-and-rally day at Salt Fork State Park. Anyone who wants to see a clean, beautiful, Great Ohio for future generations is invited to join for all or part of the Great Ohio Climate March.
Our growing zones are graded warmer and warmer by the U.S. Department of Agriculture; the world is changing around us. “This Climate March is an action…that gives us hope,” said Judy Smucker, Athens resident and member of ThirdAct Ohio. “We know it is the young people who will be facing the real challenges. They are the ones who will be cleaning up our mess. And as we see now–the climate catastrophe isn’t something waiting for the future. It’s already happening!” Continuing, she said, “We can’t let gas and oil control us.”
Appalachia, the start of the march, has borne the brunt of extractive industry for decades, from the mining of salt, coal, gas, oil, and timber, from company-owned towns to miner’s lung to abandoned pipelines. Marchers are invited to witness the exploited yet beautiful Appalachian land from Athens to Salt Fork State Park.
Around the park are more recent effects of oil and gas extraction: tree clearcutting, earth moving, and increased truck traffic with associated noise and glaring lights. Marchers will pause at the state park for a rest and rally day; non-marching friends and family are invited to join events to reflect on our common situation, the many challenges yet many opportunities we all have before us to make a difference in Ohio’s future.
From the park, marchers will continue to Columbus, passing new, huge data centers which have incredibly high water and electricity needs. Electricity demand for these and future data centers alone could more than double central Ohio’s current electricity need and increase rates across the state. We must ask ourselves if our state’s current trends and decisions on what is important are worth the totality of their future costs.
On Thursday, May 28, hikers and supporters will finish the march to the statehouse. Participants will meet with state lawmakers to advocate for a Great Ohio for future generations. It’s time for change, time to conserve the resources we have, time to ensure we leave a beautiful, clean Ohio for future generations.
Sign up to join all or part of the march at greatohioclimatemarch.org. Donations are also accepted there to cover costs. Limited full scholarships are available for young adults, and some other financial assistance will be available based upon community response. Registration closes April 16.

Third Act is a community of Americans mostly over 60 years old who are determined to change the world for the better by harnessing generational power to safeguard our environment and democracy for future generations.

Great Ohio Climate March: coming soon to trails and roads near you
Press Release: Download PDF

The Paris Agreement goal of limiting global warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius may be dead, but the opportunity for those who care to do something positive to reduce Ohio’s energy carbon footprint is alive and kicking.

Anyone concerned about Ohio and the planet’s looming environmental crisis from fossil fuel fracking is invited to join Third Act Ohio to hike and walk in solidarity May 16-28 at the Great Ohio Climate March.

Climate scientists globally predict the planet will overshoot 1.5 Celsius degrees global warming within the next few years, with fossil-fueled energy on track to heat the planet to 2.7 degrees by the end of the century. 

The earth is in its third straight year of 1.5 degrees warming. 

The march will average about 5 to 12 miles per day beginning in Athens, Ohio, run through Salt Fork State Park, and end at the Statehouse in Columbus. 

The purpose of the march is to educate people about fracking, as well as present examples of cheap, emissions-free, and reliable clean renewable energy production in Ohio. 

The march will end Thursday, March 28 with a statehouse rally and visits with Ohio legislators about the importance of passing just energy laws to protect our beautiful Ohio environment and mitigate the predicted worst effects of climate change.

“Ohio may have once been at the forefront of energy generation, but it’s incredibly backward for the energy future of our state and a livable planet,” said Ditte Wolin, co-facilitator of Third Act Ohio. “Ohio should be a model for what states can do with dependable, clean and emissions-free reliable renewable energy. 

“We’re dead last among Midwest states in the production of electricity from wind. Our state’s backward energy policy has quashed enough solar projects to power the cities of Columbus, Cleveland and Cincinnati. We simply must implement clean energy solutions that ensure we pass on a livable planet to our children and grandchildren.”

Hikers are welcome to participate in part or all of the march– whatever they are comfortable with, said Wolin. “This is a great opportunity to see a gorgeous part of the state, learn about natural gas fracking and its negative environmental impacts compared to truly clean, renewable energy projects, and meet others with similar concerns.”

The 13-day march kicks off in Athens, Ohio on Saturday, May 16. Hikers will travel for seven days, mostly on trails and unpaved roads, to Salt Fork State Park. 

During the Salt Fork portion of the march, hikers will witness the buildout of oil and gas infrastructure and this area’s rapid industrialization– including frack well pads, injection wells, and compressor stations. 

Salt Fork is Ohio’s largest-– at 20,000 acres—and arguably most beautiful state park. As of March 2026, the Oil and Gas Land Management Commission has signed drilling leases to frack a total of 11,603 acres of Ohio state parks and wildlife areas, as well as 25 rights-of-way on Ohio Department of Transportation land and 6.9 acres at Noble Correctional Institution. 

Salt Fork area residents are experiencing the negative impacts resulting from fracking– including the clearcutting of trees, massive withdrawal of fresh water from the area’s watershed, and the industrialization of pristine natural areas with glaring lights, loud noises, and increased truck traffic. 

Hikers will have a day of rest at Salt Fork, on Saturday, May 23. Friends and family can join a midday rally with music, games, speakers, and a flotilla of kayaks. There will also be education sessions on clean, renewable energy. 

The group will then trek west for five days to Columbus, mostly on off-trail bike paths and sidewalks. On this portion of the march, hikers will see the new construction of huge, energy-guzzling data centers that compete with Ohio citizens for water and electricity

Ohio now has 199 data centers, the fourth highest of any state in the nation. Besides community concerns about water and electricity demand and diminishing water quality for everyone, these and future data centers alone could more than double central Ohio’s current electricity need and increase utility rates for all Ohio residents.

On Thursday, May 28, hikers and supporters will finish the march with a lively 3-mile walk down Broad Street, arriving at the statehouse for a rally, celebration and Legislature Day. Participants will meet with state lawmakers to explain what they saw and learned from communities along the march; urge them to phase out fossil fuels and quickly ramp up renewable energy; and persuade lawmakers to pass legislation calling for a moratorium on fracking under Ohio public lands.

Ohio is the only state in the union that fracks its state parks. H.B. 507 was passed in 2022 by a Republican supermajority and signed into law by Gov. Mike DeWine in one of his first acts after his 2022 re-election. 

DeWine’s personally-appointed Oil and Gas Land Management Commission selected Salt Fork State Park to be fracked by gas and oil companies. 

New research by Save Ohio Parks found that fracking projects approved through January 12, 2026, would use at least 1.9 billion gallons of fresh water taken from Ohio lakes and streams, converting it into toxic, radioactive wastewater brine currently stored in Class II underground injection wells across the state. Those wells have been known to leak and threaten local drinking water supplies.

Joining Third Act Ohio as partners for the Great Ohio Climate March are almost 20 environmental organizations, including Save Ohio Parks, Sierra Club Ohio, Buckeye Environmental Network, People Over Petrol, and FracTracker Alliance.

Register to walk until April 15. For more information, or to become a sponsor, contact Mary Beth Naim, Third Act Ohio co-facilitator, at ohio@thirdact.org. 

Visit About the March – The Great Ohio Climate March for more information.

Third Act Ohio co-facilitator Mary Beth Naim and her grandchildren, pictured, support the Great Ohio Climate March, to be held March 16-28. The march moves through Athens to Salt Fork State Park, through communities negatively impacted by natural gas fracking and data centers. It ends in Columbus, where hikers will meet with lawmakers and ask them to move Ohio quickly from damaging fossil fuels to clean, cost-effective, renewable energies like wind and solar. (Third Act Photo)

Third Act Ohio to host Great Ohio Climate March in May of 2026
Press Release: Download PDF

Then mark your calendar, lace up your hiking boots- and prepare to walk for the planet.

Third Act Ohio will host the Great Ohio Climate March from May 16-28, 2026 from Athens, Ohio to Salt Fork State Park to Columbus to educate people about fossil fuel fracking and its harmful effects on the planet. At the end of the march, the group will attempt to persuade lawmakers to pass laws to mitigate the predicted worst effects of climate change.

“Climate change is real and climate change is here,” said Jess Grim of
Cleveland, coordinating committee member of Third Act Ohio. “In 2023, we broke the 1.5-degree warming limit; climate analysts now say we may have as few as three years before 1.5 degrees Celsius is baked in. This is a problem of our own making. If we act quickly, we can implement the clean energy solutions that ensure we pass on a livable planet to our children and grandchildren.”

Hikers are welcome to participate in all of the march or a part of it-
whatever portion they can manage, said Grim. “This is a great opportunity to see a beautiful part of Ohio and galvanize people to pressure legislators to act now to get Ohio on a net zero energy path.”

The 13-day event begins in Athens, Ohio on Saturday, May 16 with a kickoff
program. Athens, home to Ohio University, has a long history of citizen
activism promoting renewable energy and fighting the fossil fuel industry’s exploitation of the region. 

Hikers will then travel a predetermined route over seven days, mostly on
trails and unpaved roads, to Salt Fork State Park. 

During this section of the march, hikers will witness the buildout of oil
and gas infrastructure, including frack well pads, injection wells and
compressor stations. The midpoint, Salt Fork, is Ohio’s largest state park
at 20,000 acres- and arguably the state’s most beautiful.

As of June, 2025, the Ohio Oil and Gas Land Management Commission has signed leases with Infinity Natural Resources to frack under thousands of acres there. 

Salt Fork residents are already experiencing the negative social impacts
resulting from fracking, including tree clearcutting; massive withdrawals of fresh water from the area’s watershed; and the industrialization of the area with constant loud noises, increased truck traffic and glaring lights 24 hours a day.

At Salt Fork, hikers will have a day of rest on Saturday, May 23. Friends
and family will be welcome to join a mid-day rally with music, games and
speakers on the environmental and biodiversity harms of fracking. There will also be education sessions on clean, renewable energy. 

Over the next five days, the group will trek west mostly on off-trail bike
paths and sidewalks to Columbus. In this section of the state, hikers will
witness the new construction of huge, energy-guzzling data centers that
compete with Ohio residents for water and electricity.

Ohio now has 179 data centers, the fifth highest of any state in the nation. Corresponding electricity demand for these and future data centers alone could more than double Central Ohio’s current electricity need and increase rates for all Ohio residents.

On Thursday, May 28, hikers and supporters will finish the march with a
short hike before arriving at the statehouse for a celebration and
Legislature Day.  

Participants will meet with state lawmakers to explain what they saw and
learned from communities along the march; urge them to phase out fossil fuels and quickly ramp up renewable energy; and persuade lawmakers to pass legislation to ban fracking under Ohio public lands.

Third Act Ohio is a group of elder Ohioans from across the state engaged in campaigns to stop the fossil fuel industry take-over of Ohio’s precious
public lands and waters. 

Third Act, founded by prominent environmentalist Bill McKibben in 2021, is a community of Americans over 60 years old determined to change the world for the better by harnessing generational power to safeguard our climate and democracy. 

Save Ohio Parks, a statewide 501(c)4 organization dedicated to educating the public about the health, environmental and planet-warming harms of fracking Ohio’s state parks and public lands, is the event’s first sponsor. Third Act Ohio is seeking additional sponsors-businesses, civic and nonprofit organizations- for the Great Ohio Climate March.

To become a sponsor, contact ohio@thirdact.org. More information on the Great Ohio Climate March can be obtained by visiting
https://greatohioclimatemarch.org.