COLUMBUS – A year-and-a-half old plan to market natural gas drilling on state-owned land has conservation organizations and other interest groups sparring with the state over what they desribe as a "bully mentality" by Gov. John Kasich's office and the Ohio Department of Natural Resources.

The public relations plan, crafted by ODNR and dated August 2012, dealt with proposed horizontal drilling and hydraulic fracturing at Sunfish Creek State Forest, and Barkcamp and Wolf Run State Parks in Eastern Ohio.

The plan identified possible allies for leasing state land for drilling, including the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, the Ohio Oil and Gas Association and the oil and gas firm, Halliburton. Besides the list of allies, the plan also pinpointed likely opposition groups, such as the Ohio Environmental Council and Reps. Bob Hagan, D-Youngstown, and Nickie Antonio, D-Lakewood.

The state listed one potential ally in the news media — blog Third Base Politics — as well as other outlets that might be won over, including the Youngstown Vindicator and the Zanesville Times Recorder.

Brian Rothenberg, executive director of liberal nonprofit, ProgressOhio, said at a news conference Monday that the list of likely opponents was "Nixonian," likening it to a hit list.

No action was ever taken in regard to likely opponents, ODNR spokeswoman Bethany McCorkle said in an email statement Monday, because the plan itself never was implemented.

"Any responsible organization plans in advance what it is going to do especially when it knows it is going to face fierce opposition to progress," McCorkle said, adding that the plan was "just drafted for discussion purposes."

Gov. Kasich's policy director, Wayne Struble, emailed a memo to state officials in the governor's office and ODNR in August 2012 to schedule a meeting about communications for state-land leasing, according to state documents released by ProgressOhio.

Among the officials coped on the memo were Kasich's chief of staff, Beth Hansen, and Craig Butler, who was appointed interim director of the Ohio Environmental Protection Agency last month.

Rothenberg said he thinks the meeting was to discuss the oil and gas marketing plan in question, so the Kasich administration could, in part, "discredit or neutralize opposition" to drilling in state parks and forests.

But in an email Monday, Kasich spokesman Rob Nichols discounted the accusations.

"I don't know what specific pieces of paper different people saw a year and a half ago, but of course the administration is going to coordinate and plan ahead on an important issue like gas production on state land," Nichols said. "If we didn't, these same extremist groups would be attacking us for not planning ahead."

Rothenberg admitted that he can't prove the state acted on the plan, but said the documents indicate Gov. Kasich's allegiance lies with the interests of big business, not Ohioans.

"So the question is: What did they do on this issue and have they had similar meetings on other issues where they've tried to neutralize Ohioans to protect businesses?" Rothenberg said. "There are even more questions than that, such as, what did the governor know?"

Rothenberg said he wants transparency from Kasich's office and for ODNR to work alongside environmental groups, such as the Sierra Club, "who are supposed to have the same mission" as the department.

"The fact of the matter is that the governor's office needs to be clear about what they did and when they did it," Rothenberg said. "Right now, they seem to be in this Chris Christie denial mode until they are caught."

Reps. Hagan and Antonio are planning a news conference Tuesday to respond to being named in the plan.

Sam Howard is a fellow in Ohio University's E.W. Scripps School of Journalism Statehouse News Bureau. Follow him on Twitter @SamuelHHoward.