Stop DoF’s Crusade to Destroy Indiana’s Rare Forests
The Indiana Division of Forestry (DoF) is planning to log extensive portions of Pike State Forest in one of the best and last riparian bottomland hardwood forests in Indiana and the only such forest in the entire 160,000 acre state forest system. The rich quality of the land, water and the sustained life of numerous state and/or federally endangered bats, birds, reptiles and amphibians that rely on bottomland hardwood forests and the Patoka River watershed are at grave risk of being depleted or eradicated entirely if the DoF is permitted to follow through with their substantial commercial timber harvest plans for this area.
IFA is urging our supporters to submit comments to the DOF’s recently posted harvest plan and contact their state legislators and demand they not allow logging in this delicate and rare section of our Pike State Forest!
Please feel free to use the following points to assist in drafting your comments on the proposed harvest plan and expressing your concerns to the leadership at the DOF and Indiana:
- A majority of this 130-acre tract (Compartment 12, Tract 7) is flat bottomland with “deep, poorly drained” silty alluvial soils with very limited accessibility. The DoF does not currently have Best Management Practices (BMPs) or procedures in place that can mitigate the destruction of saturated soil or prevent severe rutting caused by the heavy timber equipment during harvest events. The dense native shrub and herbaceous plant layers dominating this tract cannot withstand such a disturbance caused by logging. It would take decades to recover from such activity leaving the highly disturbed areas susceptible to invasive plant species.
- The rare condition and remote location of this floodplain forest nestled deeply in the Patoka River watershed would best serve the public and native wildlife as a State Nature Preserve or High Conservation Value Forest (HCVF) due to its unique landscape level characteristics not seen anywhere else in our state. Logging in the heart of the only older, bottomland hardwood forest in the entire State Forest system is unconscionable and must be prevented at all costs.
- Runoff water from this tract drains to the Patoka River and flows to the river during heavy rain. Logging in the northern and eastern end of this tract will cause excessive amounts of sediment to pollute the Patoka River. The DoF must monitor water quality on the Patoka River upstream and downstream of the logging operations before, during and after the harvests to ensure that sediment, nutrient, and turbidity levels do not exceed baseline levels prior to logging.
- In the summer of 2023, Indiana Forest Alliance and Orbis Environmental Consulting worked together to conduct acoustic and mist-net surveys in the same bottomland forest immediately north of this tract to determine the presence of threatened and endangered bat species. Numerous Indiana bats, northern long-eared bats, tricolored bats, little brown bats and at least one federally endangered gray bat were recorded. A total of 37 bats were captured in mist nets, two of which were immature tricolored bats which the US Dept. of Fish and Wildlife has proposed to join the endangered species list and two were state endangered evening bats. The presence of immature tricolored bats indicates their maternity roost is not far from where they were caught. To follow federal endangered bat guidelines for states like Indiana which lack a habitat conservation plan, no logging must occur during the maternity roosting season (between April 15 to October 15) when endangered bats have been captured in the area. Special attention must be taken to identify bat roosting trees in this tract and prevent them from being logged to maintain these maternity roosts on which the populations of these bat species depend. There is no indication in the harvest plan that the DOF intends to follow these guidelines.
- In addition to these bat species, other rare, threatened and endangered species also occupy this type of riparian forest habitat including the state endangered Yellow & Black Crowned Night Herons, American Bittern, Prothonotary Warbler and the federally endangered Copper Belly Water Snake. DoF must definitively determine whether any of these wetland-dependent species are present in this tract before authorizing logging anywhere in the bottomland forest.
DoF Set To Destroy IFA’s Proposed Knobstone State Wild Area
In 2017, IFA published a list of 13 of the most distinctive and undisturbed areas within our State Forests and proposed that these tracts of forest be protected as wild areas. These wild areas would provide recreational opportunities such as hiking, backpacking, hunting, foraging, mountain biking, horseback riding and primitive camping, as well as provide critical deep forest habit for Indiana’s rare, threatened, and endangered species, including bobcats, gray foxes, bats, migratory songbirds, reptiles, and amphibians.
Rather than heed our call to preserve these areas, DOF has posted plans to log right in the heart of IFA’s proposed Knobstone State Wild Area within the Clark State Forest.
It is time the DoF recognized that our State Forests are not simply factory tree farms which exist for timber buyers to purchase at fractions of the cost they would have to pay on the private market. IFA has worked to pass legislation which requires the DoF to restore a state forest management policy that balances timber production with recreation and wilderness preservation. Stay tuned for future plans on this legislation.
For now, it is crucial that we draft comments and voice our concerns to our state legislators urging them to fight for the quality of life of all Hoosiers and protect the most pristine areas of our State Forests from being obliterated by commercial logging.
The following bullet points may assist you in drafting your comments on the proposed harvest plans and expressing your concerns to the leadership at DoF and your state legislators:
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- These tracts collectively have very steep slopes [69.4 acres with 25 – 75% grades] and moderate to very steep slopes [102.3 acres with 20 – 60% grades] which will pose significant erosion hazards if logged. The Indiana State Forest Procedure Manual (Section G: Timber Sales, p. 37) recommends avoiding logging on slopes greater than 30 degrees, or 58% grade. This sale notice does not confirm that logging will be prohibited on the portions of these tracts which have a steeper than 58% grade.
- Even if logging is not allowed on these slopes, significant erosion and sediment runoff will likely occur in the intermittent streams which flow into Deam Lake and the Muddy Fork watershed. The entire western edge of the proposed Knobstone State Wild Area (Compartment 16, Tract 7), is susceptible to erosion from logging on steep terrain that has several drainages which terminate in the intermittent stream of Dry Fork. The DoF must not allow logging on slopes at or greater than 30 degrees here or anywhere else in our State Forests.
- The DoF’s forest inventory of these tracts has identified a total of 2,276 sawtimber quality species of native Virginia Pine, amounting to over 307,000 board feet. Virginia Pine is the only pine native to Indiana, and only grows naturally in the Clark State Forest. DoF must adhere to its own Silvicultural Guidelines and manage the Virginia Pine at Clark State Forest to “maintain its presence and sustainability.” Virginia Pine on the steep knobby hills of these tracts must not be logged due to the sensitive soils and slopes. Special care must be taken to ensure the longevity of our only native Virginia Pine stands.
- According to these harvest plans, both Tracts contain horseback riding trails (Deam Lake Loop, Lane Loop, and Dry Fork Loop) as the main form of recreation in addition to hiking, foraging, fishing and hunting. While Indiana has great natural beauty, the amount that is available to the public for outdoor recreation is very limited. Due to the DoF’s overly aggressive management of our state forests, many of the forests that recreational users encounter have been recently logged, while many other areas are off limits due to ongoing logging. In order to truly provide meaningful recreation opportunities for Hoosiers, the DoF must not log or actively manage areas of high recreational value. Wild nature is not something we can construct or build, it is something we must protect and enjoy in order to enhance our quality of life. These harvest plans contain no mention of the recreational value of these forests or how it will be maintained. The harvest plans need to address public safety and the true recreational value these forests mean to the Hoosiers that use them, not ignore the immense value that the natural beauty of the area in its unlogged condition provides to the public.
IFA’s draft comments on both of these areas can be found here.
