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  History
 
1996 -  Indiana Forest Alliance formed to coordinate efforts of existing
forest protection and conservation organizations and concerned
citizens.  Participating organizations include Heartwood, Protect Our
Woods, Hoosier Environmental Council, Sierra Club, Sassafras Audubon
Society, The Hoosier National Forest Network, and the IU Student
Environmental Action Coalition.

1997 ­ IFA organizers file lawsuits to stop proposed “salvage logging” on
the Hoosier National Forest.  Court rules that the "Salvage Rider" passed
by Congress exempts salvage sales from all forest protection and citizen
oversight laws.

1998 -  Indiana Forest Alliance monitors salvage logging operations,
documenting and publicizing timber theft and gross environmental degradation

1999 ­ IFA plays an active role in the Protect Griffy Alliance, the
community effort that successfully campaigned to stop forest clearing by
Indiana University
for golf course expansion in the Lake Griffy watershed

First annual Indiana ForestFest! held at Yellowwood State Forest.

2000 ­ IFA files its first lawsuit over the Hoosier National Forest’s
“forest openings” program.

IFA, along with Protect Our Woods, the Hoosier Environmental Council and
others develop a “Conservationists Alternative” management plan for the
Hoosier National Forest.  The plan was endorsed by 15 organizations in the
state and submitted to the Forest Service at the formal start of the
revising of the current forest plan.

2001 ­  The Indiana Forest Alliance and Indiana University Student
Environmental Action Coalition (SEAC) successfully campaign for the Indiana
University Administration to adopt an “old growth purchasing policy” that
prohibits the purchase by the University of wood or paper products sourced
from old-growth forests."

IFA, with other individuals and organizations, campaigns to protect Brown
Woods/Stony Springs from taxpayer subsidized development on Bloomington’s
West Side, bringing greenspace preservation to the forefront of community
issues.  The Canterbury Apartments were eventually constructed on the site.

Another organization, the Yellowwood Tree-Huggers, stages an 8 month sit-in
up a tree in a logging sale in Yellowwood State Forest.  Governor O’Bannon
cancelled the sale at the last possible moment and the effort was successful
in preventing the cutting of the trees, including the tree they sat in,
Prometheus.

The Majority Leader of the Indiana House of Representatives, Mark Kruzan,
introduces legislation to preserve Indiana’s state forests and end
commercial logging of the forests.

2002 ­ The Indiana Division of Forestry holds the first ever round of “state
forest open houses” at each of the state forest properties

IFA files first ever lawsuit in the history of the state to invoke the
Indiana Environmental Policy Act of 1972 (IEPA).

IFA celebrates a victory as an active member of the Paper Campaign when
Staples Inc. agreed, after a two-year grassroots push, to a groundbreaking
paper procurement policy that commits to avoiding endangered areas and
dramatically increasing the amount of post-consumer recycled paper in the
products in their stores.

IFA co-hosts the 2002 Heartwood Spring Forest Council, “Return of the
Buffalo” at Camp Rivervale in Mitchell.

IFA and members host the 1st Annual Eastern Forests Defense Camp in Paoli,
helping train over 100 activists from around the eastern US in non-violent
forest defense.
2003 Volunteers from the Indiana Forest Alliance
helped to construct the world’s largest piece of handmade
recycled paper. When completed, the paper was 20 feet by 30
feet and was embedded with wildflower seeds throughout.
It broke a world’s record set in Singapore and was verified
for the Guiness Book of World’s Records.

2004 In response to Heartwood and IFA's concerns over a
massive timber sale on the Harrison-Crawford State Forest
in Indiana Bat habitat, the DoF cancels the sale and
institutes interm management guidelines for the Indiana Bat.
This is the first time a Indiana state forest has submitted
to the federal Endangered Species Act. The interm guidelines
are put in place until the DoF completes the state forest
Habitat Conservation Plan for the Indiana Bat. The guidelines
prevent the logging of hickories, retain the two largest trees
per acre, and allow logging only during winter months.

2005 IDNR Division of Forestry announces the Strategic Plan
2005-7 which increases the amount of logging on state
forests by 400%.

In response to the continued litigation by IFA,
and the threat of new litigation to stop the strategic plan,
the IDNR pushes Senate Bill 354 to amend the classified
forest program through the state legislature. The bill
contains a rider that exempts the Division of Forestry
from the Indiana Environmental Act. Kyle Hupfer,
IDNR Director, admits during a hearing in the Senate
Natural Resources Committee that, "we don't have time
to do studies. We need to get rid of these lawsuits."

2006 The IDNR proposes a 1000 acre land exchange between
Glendale Fish and Wildlife Area and the Black Beauty Coal
Company. The company was planning to strip mine the
wildlife area for coal. The plan was cancelled after
massive public outcry.

In July, IDNR Conservation Officers raid a bipod built
by the Hoosier Forest Defense Network on a logging road
in the Morgan-Monroe State Forest. Claiming they had
received a tip that there was a meth lab operating,
the officers storm in with automatic weapons and threaten
activists with lethal force. One activist is arrested
and pleads guilty to resisting arrest. Four other activists
are cited for illegal camping.

The Division of Forestry undergoes certification under
SFI/FSC standards. The FSC requires that the Division
allow for public comments on strategic planning
to get certification.

2007 IFA starts its Sister Forest campaign in Belize.
Drew Laird, IFA Director, takes four Indiana University
students to the Bladen Rainforest and to Caye Caulker to
experience reef ecology.

Eric Johnson, property manager of Jackson-Washington
State Forest, kills himself and his daughter by
crashing his small plane into his ex mother-in-law's
house. He had gone through a bitter divorce the
following fall. IFA had received emails written by
Johnson criticizing the Division of Forestry
over the 2005 system wide inventory.

2008 The DNR Division of Forestry releases it's Strategic
Plan 2008-2013 and it's Environmental Assessment of logging
on the State Forest System. The EA is a technical win
for the IFA lawsuit.