The Indiana Forest Alliance (IFA) is on the verge of accomplishing an historic feat: passing federal legislation to protect the largest island of wild native hardwood forest on public land in Indiana, Ohio and Illinois. Last year, IFA convinced US Senator Mike Braun to introduce S. 2990, the Benjamin Harrison National Recreation Area and Wilderness Establishment Act of 2023. This bill has been re-introduced by Braun in the Senate as S.4402. Thanks to months of additional work by IFA and supporters and to political leadership by Senator Braun and Congresswoman Erin Houchin, this legislation has also been introduced in the U.S. House of Representatives as H.R. 8535. This makes it much more likely to become law.
This legislation is not just a milestone; it is a lifeline for this forest. The U.S. Forest Service is attempting once more to burn, log, spray herbicides and build roads into 13,500 acres in the heart of this forest in its Houston South Project. We have defeated this project twice in court. Yet, despite a court ordering the Forest Service to address the impacts of this project to Monroe Reservoir, the agency is proceeding with the project without having altered one iota of these planned activities. Unless we can stop it again, the project will proceed. IFA must raise tens of thousands of dollars in staff time and attorney fees between now and the end of the year to go back to court to save this pristine forest, and we are asking for your support in order to do so.
Your support can help us save the bobcats, long-tailed weasels, southern flying squirrels, and hundreds of other species in this area. IFA has identified five federally endangered or proposed endangered bat, and upwards of 22 territories of cerulean warblers per square mile in the proposed wilderness and NRA. This is one of the last productive nesting areas in Indiana for ceruleans.
IFA must also raise thousands of additional dollars for a massive outreach effort to call, email and text individuals across Indiana and the US in the states and districts of key federal legislators. Their support is crucial to passing S.4402 and H.R.8535, which will stop the Houston South Project for good.
If passed, 2.4402/H.R.8535 will add approximately 15,300 acres to the Charles C. Deam Wilderness, more than doubling its size. The historic Nebo Ridge will be kept forever wild. Moreover, the legislation would establish the 29,382 acre Benjamin Harrison National Recreation Area to protect the drinking water for more than 130,000 Hoosiers in Monroe Reservoir and expand hiking, backpacking, horseback riding, and mountain biking beyond the Wilderness. The expanded wilderness and NRA will consume the entire Houston South project area and protect thousands of acres of old growth and 100 plus year old forest stretching twenty miles from Deckard Ridge to Panther Creek across Browning Mountain to Hickory Ridge and Fork Ridge.
Aside from bobcats, long-tailed weasels, southern flying squirrels, and hundreds of other species, IFA has identified five federally endangered or proposed endangered bats, and upwards of 22 territories of cerulean warblers per square mile in the proposed wilderness and NRA. Cerulean warblers inhabit mature, undisturbed hardwood forests and have declined by 70% over their entire range since the 1960’s. They have been designated a species of national conservation concern by the US Fish and Wildlife Service. This is one of the last productive nesting areas in Indiana for ceruleans.
Therefore, IFA must also raise an additional $70,000 for a massive outreach effort to phone, email and text individuals across Indiana and the US in the states and districts of key federal legislators. Their support is crucial to passing S.4402 and H.R.8535, which will stop the Houston South Project for good.
We are in a race against time. The contributions that we raise now will determine whether we can hold the Houston South Project back in court and pass this monumentally consequential legislation at the same time! These are tough challenges and the climb is steep, but we can meet them. Our legal case against the Houston South Project has never been stronger given new information on the dangers of sediment and herbicides reaching the water supply of Bloomington that was not available before. The legislation has strong support in the Democratically controlled Senate, and the House leadership will respect the wishes of fellow Republicans, Rep. Houchin and Sen. Braun, if we can make our voices heard by key leaders at the right time.
If you want to save Indiana’s largest expanse of wild forest, please contribute as much as you can to IFA today. We need to raise $140,000 without delay. Two generous supporters have pledged a $70,000 matching commitment if we can raise the other half. Every dollar you give now will be doubled, bringing us that much closer to raising the funds that will save the largest expanse of wild nature on public lands in the lower Midwest. Your contribution will not be just a gift; it will procure a legacy, saving 90 square miles of wild nature here in Indiana that our descendants, your children and grandchildren, will relish forever. Please give what you can TODAY to this urgent, once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.
