A federal proposal to rename Ohio’s Wayne National Park because its American Revolutionary leader namesake 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 General Anthony Wayne led efforts to remove Native Americans from the area in 1794.

The Forest Service is now 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 namesake of the forest, Anthony Wayne, lived in Pennsylvania and was summoned by then-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 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.

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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… 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.

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“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.

“If we allow him to be erased from history, it wouldn’t be long before George Washington, Thomas Jefferson and other great patriots who founded this country will also be deemed too problematic to be remembered.”

The following day, Reps. Troy Balderson, Brad Wenstrup and Bill Johnson sent their own joint letter to the Forest Service and Department of Agriculture requesting an extension to its 15-day public comment period and questioning whether the move was worth its “$400,000 price tag.” 

Ohio Speaker of the House Jason Stevens also blasted the name change as a problem raised by the “woke Biden administration.”

“This is just another example of federal government overreach trying to fix a problem that doesn’t exist,” he said in a statement to the Ironton Tribune.

“As Ohio’s only national forest, Wayne National Forest has become a destination for all Ohioans and its visitors to enjoy nature and all that Southeast Ohio has to offer for nearly a century.”

Residents also spoke out in emails to the Agriculture Department during its short public comment period, with some ironically suggesting that the forest be renamed the “Woke National Forest.”

“Erasing Anthony Wayne from the national forest is like removing Thomas Jefferson from Mr. Rushmore,” one person wrote in an email obtained by Cleveland.com.

“Please quit trying to whitewash our history.”

Peggy Feldhaus asked, “Could we all just chill out, admit everyone’s history is complicated and stop the renaming?

“By not renaming, the door is opened to discussing the real human persons, flaws and all,” she wrote in an email obtained by The Cincinnati Enquirer. “Erasing their successes and qualities diminishes us.”

And Jesse Laughlin argued that the renaming campaign “is just a show to put on for ‘the woke’ to grab votes.

“Stop trying to rename a forest and actually help out,” he pleaded. “I know I’d appreciate a better school or better roads or better infrastructure in my community.”

But more than half of the responses the Agriculture Department received expressed support for renaming the forest.

“Ohio should not have a park with a name that brings violence to mind,” one person wrote. 

“We wouldn’t name a park Hitler or Pol Pot. Mad Anthony Wayne does not fit in that category of villains, but you see my point.”

Another wrote that they were supportive of the name change, saying “the buckeye tree actually represents our state, not a slaveholding genocidal Pennsylvanian. Wayne must go!”

Even a woman who identified herself as a descendant of Wayne’s said she supported the idea, writing: “It is embarrassing and appalling to honor someone who so violently removed the Indigenous peoples of Ohio.”

John Washco, of the American Indian Movement of Ohio, has also argued that removing Wayne’s name from the forest is “not erasing history at all” and in fact keeping his name on the forest “would show either a lack of compassion or ignorance … of not knowing the true history.”

“Any time you talk about untold history in this country, it’s like, ‘Oh woke this, woke that,’” he told the Daily Beast.

“Well, it’s going to happen whether they like it or not,” he warned.

The Agriculture Department has yet to announce when a final decision will be made, but it will be done at the sole discretion of U.S. Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack.

The Post has reached out to the Agriculture Department for comment.