From Jeff Stant, Executive Director Another session of our General Assembly has finished, this one exhibiting the most hostile attitudes toward our environment and natural heritage in the seven years that I’ve been lobbying for IFA there. Here is a detailed recounting of how the legislature gutted Indiana’s wetlands law. Senate Bill 389 …
Moving Forward in the Fight for Indiana’s Wetlands Read More »
SB 229 is now on Governor Eric Holcomb’s desk. He has until March 25 to sign it. If he does not sign the bill, it becomes law the next day.
IFA is sharing the following alert issued by Tim Maloney, Senior Policy Director, at the Hoosier Environmental Council.
We urgently need your help in contacting the officials listed below to stop this ill-advised project and compel the Forest Service to consider alternatives.
An amendment to SB 363 calling for the set aside of 10% of state forests failed to pass the State House of Representatives in March by a vote of 42 yays to 52 nays. Despite continued opposition by the Indiana Department of Natural Resources (IDNR), seven more representatives supported the 10% set-aside than in 2018! …
IFA Gains Ground in the Indiana State House But We Must Keep at It! Read More »
By Jeff Stant, IFA Executive Director Updated March 22, 2019 Virtually every week, the Indiana Forest Alliance hears from concerned Hoosiers about proposed logging in their favorite areas of Indiana’s state forests. Added to this are rampant cutting of private forests, and even County-owned forests like the famed Bean Blossom overlook in Brown County enjoyed …
Contact Your Legislators to Protect Indiana’s State Forests! Read More »
Call your Indiana State Senator today at (800) 382-9467. Express your support for this bill and ask that they contact Senator Sue Glick, Chair of the Senate Natural Resources Committee, and ask that this bill have a hearing.
Publicly owned land provides a rich opportunity to create large contiguous sections of undisturbed forest that can be allowed to mature into true old growth conditions that will act as a repository for the plants and animals that need this environment to thrive.
But now, in the U.S. House, a barrage of nine bills have been introduced to weaken the law, and one bill draft has been released in the Senate. Furthermore, Secretary of Interior Ryan Zinke has also just released a series of regulatory rollbacks to the ESA.
As a forester, ecologist, and former legislator in Wisconsin, I’ve tried to offer another perspective on Indiana forest issues. We expect our public forests to produce a variety of benefits for citizens, and forest managers must play a critical role in satisfying multiple uses while keeping forests healthy and resilient. As the impacts of climate change and invasive species increasingly affect our forests, that work becomes even more important and more challenging.
