Indiana hosts 31st Annual Heartwood Forest Council

Memorial Day weekend, May 26-29, Heartwood (heartwood.org) will hold its 31st annual Forest Council at beautiful Camp Rivervale overlooking the White River near Mitchell, Indiana. The educational weekend will feature a dynamic and focused program of keynote speakers, panel discussions, live music, children’s activities, healthy, locally sourced meals, and more.

Supporting the event’s theme, Reenvisioning and Reinvigorating the Forest Community, the program will offer an exciting, new vision for the region’s publicly owned forests–fresh ideas that will inspire, energize, and empower those working to defend them.

A range of campaigns to be addressed include stopping a new wave of destructive Forest Service proposals like the Buffalo Springs wholesale logging and widespread repeated burning project on the Hoosier National Forest; offering alternatives to those proposals that protect forests for air and water quality, biodiversity, and public enjoyment while moderating climate and sequestering carbon; creating the Shawnee National Park and Climate Preserve as a pilot project in the creation of a multi-state, bioregional, biodiversity and climate preserve system of protected public forests.

Here is a comprehensive Facebook event post: 

Andy Mahler, Heartwood founder and 2023 program coordinator, stated, “We designed the program for this year’s Heartwood Forest Council to reflect not just the need for a new approach to the management of our region’s recovering hardwood forest, especially our very limited publicly owned forests, but also the need for a reinvigorated, inclusive, and visionary forest protection community dedicated to the long-term, comprehensive protection of publicly owned forestland.”

Among the scientists, professors, attorneys, students, authors, and community leaders attending, two of the keynote speakers will be visionary conservationist Michael Kellett, founder and executive director of RESTORE: The North Woods, from Maine, and archaeologist Cheryl Munson from Bloomington, author of Looking at History: Indiana’s Hoosier National Forest Region, 1600 to 1950. 

Interactive, nature-based, children’s activities will be led by singer-songwriter Sarah Grain and artist Vincenzio Packard. Delicious farm-to-table meals featuring fresh, local and organic food, with gluten free and vegan options at every meal, will be creatively prepared by long-time Heartwood friend and chef Shane McElwee. Outstanding live music will include Forest Gras Band, the legendary Bob Lucas, a tribute to the extraordinary music of the late great Robert Hoyt, newly released songs by Kris Lasher, campfire music and singalongs, and the ever-popular Heartwood Talent Show. Guests will also be invited to participate in an entertaining live auction and silent auction.

Free time will be offered to explore the area, with a variety of options for field trips exemplifying the remarkable history, biological diversity, and beauty of the region. Field trips will include Spring Mill State Park, a wonderful example of a rare, older-growth forest in Donaldson’s Woods, Blue Springs Caverns, and more.

Attendees may register for all or part of the weekend. Tent camping and cabins are available. All are welcomed. To learn more about the event, to see the itinerary, and to register, visit heartwood.org/2023-forest-council/.

The address for Camp Rivervale is 496 Rivervale Road, Mitchell, Indiana, located a few miles north of Spring Mill State Park.

Visit https://fb.me/e/62xZZSRjg for the comprehensive event post on Facebook.