Letter: Your Hoosier National Forest
Dear Hoosiers,
We live in a land where deep forests dominated the landscape for millions of years. Over 90% of our state was once covered in pristine forest. Today, we have just a small fraction of those ecosystems. Under the care of Mother Nature and the native indigenous populations, prior to statehood, nearly 20 million acres thrived and were home to an immense biodiversity. During the 19th century and early 20th, our forests were cleared for agriculture, timber, and development.
By 1922, Charles C. Deam, Indiana State Forester, stated that the number of forested acres had dropped to 1,387,248 acres, just 6% of Indiana’s land base! At that time, he postulated that given the current rate of deforestation, the state would not have any forests left in just 15 years. Indiana’s public forests have grown in size to 722,713 acres (or 17% of the forests in the state). This is deficient of the 90% at the time of statehood. However, it is also proof that we can restore our ecosystem and grow our economy at the same time.
Lately, some have criticized the need for the preservation of our forests. They have suggested that a forest is static, never changing, unless humans partake in clear-cutting, prescribed burning and chemical treatments. In reality, a forest ecosystem naturally is a dynamic system that is continually affected by extreme weather events, indirect human interactions, rainfall, tree aging, insect and disease outbreaks, wildfires, animal populations, and many other factors. These influences have affected our forests and their natural resources for millions of years and continue to do so today. Our public forests are the only areas where these processes can be preserved and serve as a base to rebuild our native forest ecosystem to counter the effects of climate change and provide a refuge for native wildlife and recreation. In addition, our public lands hold many preserved archaeological sites that have yet to be studied. Many of these sites can be inadvertently destroyed by silviculture and prescribed burning in forest management projects, losing forever this connection to our past.
The stewardship of public forests, including their natural and cultural resources, which are owned cooperatively by all citizens of the state, falls to the managers of these lands i.e., the United States Forest Service (USFS), Indiana Department of Natural Resources Forestry division (IDNR Forestry), Indiana State Park System (ISP) and land trusts. Assisting and delivering the will of the general public to these public forest managers has been championed by ecological groups such as Indiana Forest Alliance (IFA), the Sierra Club (Sierra), Hoosier Environmental Council (HEC), the Center for Biological Diversity (CBD), friends of forest organizations, Citizens Climate Lobby (CCL), Heartwood, Protect our Woods (POW), and many others. Everyone has a vested interest and a say in the management of our public forests. However, the goals and direction of forest preservation should ultimately be determined by the citizens, not the employees of the state. Overwhelmingly, Hoosiers do not want their public lands to be clear-cut and burned.
On April 3rd, Dr. Homer Wilkes, Undersecretary of the United States Department of Agriculture and head of the USFS, met with nearly 250 citizens in the heart of the Hoosier National Forest, where he promised cooperation of the USFS with the public in the creation of a new Forest Management Plan for the HNF in the face of current climatic changes. The need for a new vision and plan is overdue, given the findings of the recent IPCC report and President Biden’s executive order on old forests.
Recently the Four Rivers Forestry Committee accused the Crawford County Commissioners of wrongly giving their view on the future of the HNF and the Buffalo Springs project. County Commissioners are elected officials that represent the views of their constituents. The Crawford, Orange and Brown County Commissioners, Paoli Town Council and Chamber of Commerce, Orange County Farm Bureau, Orange and Crawford County Economic Development Partnerships, and many others have done just that and delivered the opinions of the public for the management of their public forests to the USFS. This opinion was based on guidance from scientists and experts in many fields and from ecological groups across the state and region and indeed even the nation. This opinion takes into account climate science, effects on local and regional economies, history of forest makeup and management in Indiana, recreational, educational, and health benefits of public forests, along with many other factors.
Forest restoration is more critical now than ever. Cutting the oldest, largest and most merchantable trees is not the answer. Claims are made that clear-cutting and burning is necessary to promote the Oak tree population. Furthermore, the assumption was made that Oak was the dominant and most abundant species in the Buffalo Springs area of the HNF. Historical records from the Government’s first land surveys conducted in the Buffalo Springs area from 1804 through 1807 do not support this. American Beech made up 43% of the dominant trees reported, oaks 21%, maples 12%, poplars 6%, hickories 6%, and gums 5%, while eleven other tree species comprised 7% of the trees reported. The eradication of beech, maple, cherry, basswood, elm, ash, sassafras and many other native tree species to promote oak and hickory will not “restore” our more diverse native forest and is not supported by historical evidence.
The Forest Service and its promoters of the Buffalo Springs project insist that it is needed to create early successional wildlife habitat. However, the Forest Service’s planning regulations require that the agency’s management of HNF acres take into account the habitats and conditions on surrounding private lands that are abundant in the HNF and work with neighboring landowners to achieve land management objectives. There are more than 30 times the acres of early successional habitat than the Forest Service has recognized in its documents for the Buffalo Springs project, in managed wildlife openings, utility easements, and private lands in the Buffalo Springs area. Rather than working with private landowners to maintain or create more early successional wildlife habitats to complement the older deep forest on the public lands, the agency is proposing to log nearly half of all the public lands, more than 5,000 acres, in the project area to create early successional habitat. In the process, most of the hardwood stands that are 120 years or older will be eliminated, setting back the prospect of any appreciable old growth forest returning to the heart of the HNF for another century.
Getting rid of pines across public lands in the project area is also not warranted. Just because most planted pines in the Buffalo Springs area are historically non-native does not justify eradicating them in catastrophic clearcuts as the project proposes. The pines are not invasive. They have been aging out naturally. Native hardwood regeneration in the pine stands of oak, poplar, beech, maple, dogwood and others are quite apparent from on ground surveys and drone footage. In fact, the moderate sun/shade regimen in many of the pine groves has actually been conducive to oak regeneration. Indeed, the largest portion of the pine forest type to be logged in the Buffalo Springs project is identified as “Oak-Pine.” Groves of white pines that remain have become critical winter habitat for reintroduced deer and turkey populations and a myriad of species of native birds.
Claims are also made that prescribed burning is necessary. However, Indiana is in the least fire-prone area of the country, with a very limited history of natural fires in our wet native forests. In fact, our forests are naturally resistant to fire so much that forest managers have to use heavy-duty chemicals to make our forests burn. Eastern hardwood forests, because of their resilience to fire, are some of the best forests to restore and preserve in the age of climate change when we need massive carbon sequestration to counter record carbon losses in the world.
Heavy logging and burning actually open the landscape up for erosion and invasives, compact the soil, kill emerging herptiles, roosting bats and ground nesting birds, bring in cowbirds that parasitize the nests of remaining birds and significantly pollute public drinking water sources. Nature already has effective forest processes. Human involvement in our public forests is only necessary to counter the effects of previous human activities such as logging, burning and road building which have brought in unprecedented levels of invasive non-native plants along human-created edges. Our public forests are your forests, and you have a right to be heard. The native nations that had claim to the HNF long before statehood need to be heard too. The Four Rivers Forestry Committee stated that, “during the public comment period [of the Buffalo Springs Project], several Native American tribes with ties to the region were consulted, and all submitted public comments in support of the project.” This is simply not true. All public comments were released by the USFS and no comments from our Indigenous native groups were listed. Leaders of the 11 tribes who historically called this land home have confirmed this.
As evidenced by the large citizen turn-out at the Paoli meeting with Dr. Wilkes and Senator Braun and the comments received, the vast majority of local residents do not want the Buffalo Springs project. Forest management time would be better spent working with the people on a new vision and plan for our eastern hardwood forests so that we can preserve our natural heritage and help mitigate the effects of climate change for future generations.
For more information we provide a brochure and these links to IFA’s comments on the Buffalo Springs project and the Citizens’ Preferred Alternative.
IFA public comment to the Buffalo Springs project proposal:
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1otH5_Vyz6HOP0TPAzt1s63bcvpwRW7MU/view?usp=share_link
Our brochure: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1xqWmuKWbXrmCL8jYT9oyd9d6QwIP3_zp/view?usp=share_link
The Citizens’ Preferred Alternative to the Buffalo Springs project proposal: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1hN2LXIjbZmKX-4H0E_ef-mm01sbyT8_z/edit?usp=share_link&ouid=111336741019884020813&rtpof=true&sd=true
About Indiana Forest Alliance: The Indiana Forest Alliance (IFA) is a non-profit, statewide organization founded in 1996 dedicated to preserving and restoring Indiana’s native hardwood forest ecosystem for the enjoyment of all.
Thank you!
Steven BG Stewart, Hoosier National Forest Program Director, Indiana Forest Alliance
