• Ending Commercial Logging

• Hoosier National Forest Watch Program

• Forest Planning

End Commercial Logging on our National Forests

The Indiana Forest Alliance is a member of the National Forest Protection Alliance, which serves as a national network of
organizations working to end commercial logging on public forests and redirect the Forest Service to ecological protection and restoration jobs and services.

Working with NFPA, the Indiana Forest Alliance works to educate the public, the media, and elected Representatives on the damage and waste associated with commercial logging. We support the passage of the National Forest Protection and Restoration Act as a solution. Thus far, Representative Julia Carson (D-10) is the only representative in Indiana to become a cosponsor of the bill.

More information on the problem of commercial logging on national forests and ways to take action can be found at
www.forestadvocate.org.

To find out how YOU can make a difference in your area, contact the Indiana delegate to the NFPA Governing Council, Kara Reagan, at kreagan@indiana.edu or 332-4878.

Thanks to activists from IFA, Heartwood, Protect our Woods and others, the Hoosier National Forest has not conducted a timber sale since early 1998. The current forest plan allows for the cutting of 4.4 million board feet of timber each year, but it was demonstrated that even that amount of logging would likely kill the endangered Indiana bats and destroy their roost trees. However, the Forest Service is currently seeking permits which would allow them an “incidental take”, or killing of Indiana bats, and exempt the activity from the Endangered Species Act. This would clear the way for attempts at logging the Hoosier to resume. Please stay involved.

An important way to stay involved is through the Forest Plan Revision. Click here for more information.

 

Forest Watch on the Hoosier National Forest

1. German Ridge Timber Sale
2. Threatened and Endangered Species Amendment
3. Breedlove Road Project
 

Forest Planning

Announcement: Hoosier National Forest Planning Workshop

The U.S. Forest Service is hosting a public workshop to seek public input on the upcoming revision of the Hoosier National Forest’s Land and Resource Management Plan. This plan is a “strategic document that outlines broad goals and priorities for the HNF for a 10 to 15 period.”

Times and locations for the workshop are:
August 16, 2003
10 am to 5 pm
Lawrence Co. 4-H Fair Bldg.
US Highway 50 West
Bedford

Hoosier National Forest Management Planning and the “Conservationists Alternative”

The National Forest Management Act directs each national forest to undergo a comprehensive planning process with public participation every 15 years. The Hoosier National Forest began its planning process in November of 2000. The Indiana Forest Alliance was a leader in forming the Indiana Public Lands Coalition, bringing together over 15 organizations to draft a new vision, a “Conservationists Alternative Management Plan,” for the Hoosier. This concise document lays out a vision of ecologically based management and makes specific recommendations on activities and regulations consistent with that vision.


For information about the Conservationists Alternative go to: http://www.hecweb.org/hoosier_national/campaign.html.

For more information about the Hoosier National Forest planning process, see: www.fs.fed.us/r9/hoosier.

We encourage everyone to get involved in this process by writing a letter to the Forest Service or by getting involved in IFA’s campaign to support the Conservationists Alternative.

Write to: USDA Forest Service, Hoosier National Forest, 811 Constitution Avenue, Bedford, IN 47421.