The Marred Face of the Knobstone Trail
As a horseman, I had traveled the tree-laden path of Deam Lake hundreds of times. Now as a hiker, I find myself traveling down that same path, but it is unrecognizable to me. The joy of the path is now replaced with mud, stumps, and piles of wasted logging byproduct.
Logging & the Indiana Bat: Mitigating Disaster
Using the precautionary principle, the EIS should evaluate alternatives that conserve enough Indiana Bat habitat in an unlogged condition to make up for any incidental take.
Since When is an Early Death “Healthy”?
Our hardwood forests have substantially longer growth cycles than current logging allows. White oak, tulip poplar, sugar maple and American beech have maximum life spans of 300 to 600 years and average life spans of 100 to 300 years.
What Can Save a 300-Year-Old Indianapolis Forest?
We are about to lose the only old-growth forest in inner city Indianapolis. Your calls to your Congresspeople are the only way to save these trees.
Defeating the Purpose: Logging at Hardy Lake
IFA has learned that on August 8, the Indiana DNR Division of Parks & Reservoirs will conduct a timber sale and private harvest in one of the largest tracts of deep, interior forest at Hardy Lake State Recreation Area, located in Scott and Jefferson counties.
The Rise and Fall of the Ruffed Grouse, and Associated Myths
A DNR biologist once told me that the hunters could never kill enough grouse to harm the population as a whole. Grouse were resilient and as long as there was adequate habitat they would continue to thrive, he explained. Which brings us to the big lie: “Grouse need clearcuts.”
A Cycle Interrupted: How Current State Logging Practices Short-Circuit Nature for Profit
Today’s state foresters are not allowing this natural cycle to occur, and their interruptive and fruitless efforts to grow currently popular intermediate hardwoods short-circuits this forest succession in the second stage.
Not Gullible Enough to Believe…
At the encouragement of the Indiana Forest Alliance, dozens — even hundreds — of citizens have been contacting Governor Mike Pence to ask him to limit logging on our state forests, and to set aside 13 State Wild Areas.
Lament of the Knobstone Trail: A Treasure, Logged?
It is my hope that the Indiana Department of Natural Resources might come to its senses. There is no scientific reason to increase logging by such a large amount — in fact just the opposite. That leaves only profit generation as an explanation for their actions.
Indiana Senate Kills Pro-Forest Legislation Due to “Fiscal Impact”
The bill appeared to have enough votes to pass. We were heartened so many Republican senators saw the value in protecting this fraction of taxpayer-owned land for wilderness recreation and deep forest wildlife habitat.