BEDFORD—Protect Our Woods and the Indiana Forest Alliance announced plans for a public rally at the Bedford office of the Hoosier National Forest on Thursday, May 15, at 10:00 a.m.
The Save Hoosier National Forest event invites the US Forest Service (USFS) to engage directly with activists – something leaders say they’ve been trying to do for nearly five years. Activists from Monroe County who oppose the USFS Houston South (HS) project are joining forces with Orange County activists battling the USFS against its Buffalo Springs (BS) project. Together, those projects would result in nearly 40,000 acres of logging, burns, and chemical treatment in the Hoosier National Forest. Despite public outcry and multiple active lawsuits against the USFS, the agency recently ordered burns across nearly 2000 acres near Lake Monroe, the drinking water source for Bloomington, Indiana University, and nearby towns.
“We have been fighting this battle since 2020, when a bunch of us in Orange County received notice that thousands of acres of land near our homes would be burned and logged in the coming years. We’re talking about beautiful horseback riding trails, caves that have yet to be explored, and an astonishing diversity of species that will be greatly disturbed if the US Forest Service follows through with their current plans,” said Steven Stewart, whose family homestead borders the Hoosier, and now serves as head of the Save Hoosier National Forest campaign at Protect our Woods, a nonpartisan environmental organization aimed at protecting forest and preserving as much wilderness as possible and our cultural heritage for future generations.
Though retired from his role as executive director of the Indiana Forest Alliance, Jeff Stant still plays a vital role in this work. He repeatedly asks policymakers to compare the meager revenue from logging to the booming eco-tourism market, expected to reach $224 billion in 2025 in the US alone (Statista), and explore ways for Hoosiers to capitalize on the incredible natural resources we have already protected.
Stant says, “We are asking elected leaders to invest in Hoosiers and our ingenuity. Make it easier for entrepreneurs to start up eco-tourism businesses, and stop destroying one of the most valuable resources this part of the state has. I would argue that one of the most valuable and special places in the world.”
In communication with members, Protect Our Woods made the mission of this rally clear – to remind the public that National Forests belong to them. Andy Mahler, an award-winning lifelong public forest champion who successfully helped stop logging in the Hoosier for thirty years, continues to lend his expertise to the movement and describes his vision for the Save Hoosier National Forest Rally: “The people of Indiana are making it unmistakably clear to the Forest Service that they do not want their only National Forest cut down. We want our publicly owned Hoosier National Forest protected and the trees left standing for water, wildlife, recreation, and innumerable public benefits only available from publicly owned land, including making nearby communities desirable places to live, work, retire, or visit.”
Mahler says the rally will be a peaceful, family-friendly event with speakers and songs – and perhaps some equine guests also: “Bring your horses. There will be parking for horse trailers. And you can get your picture taken with Tatanka.”
Tatanka is a larger-than-life-sized buffalo designed and constructed by local artist Gloria Courtney and Orange County residents to remind Hoosiers of the wild bison that once roamed these lands, until they were hunted to near-extinction. Activists urge citizens to see the destruction of the bison and indigenous cultures as reminders of the damage that settlers did to the land, and the obligation that all Americans have to protect the remaining forests left standing.
