WFHB Bloomington Community Radio
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When most people think of Indiana’s landscape they picture cornfields and flat terrain. Surprisingly, Indiana used to be almost completely covered with forests and wildlife with a limited space filled by bare hills. Indiana’s forest cover pre-settlement is estimated to be around 85%. By the early 1900s it was at 7%.
Though the urban population density has increased more and more, leaving forests less lush, Indiana still has forests to admire.
In Monroe County, the Hoosier National Forest provides a unique ecosystem for Indiana residents with more than 200,000 acres comprising about half of the total public forest land in Indiana.
In order to maintain a forest so large, specific procedures need to be done. Examples are prescribed fires, planting, thinning, or harvesting trees. This can also be known as Silviculture.
However in other instances, forests may be used for wood resources or for other specific maintenance purposes. This can be known as logging. Logging can contribute to deforestation and forest degradation which can lead to a change in the ecosystems and a decrease in biodiversity.
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The Houston South Vegetation Management and Restoration project is a forest management proposal mainly for the regulation and logging of 4,375 acres in the Lake Monroe watershed, specifically in the northwest corner of Jackson County and a small portion of the northeast corner of Lawrence County.
According to USDA, the project was created to treat vegetation and conduct related management activities to improve forest health and sustainability of the oak-hickory ecosystems while also improving wildlife habitat.
However, many local individuals, organizations, and commissioners objected to this project in concern of effects on the surrounding communities.
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The Indiana Forest Alliance is a non-profit, statewide organization working to protect and restore Indiana’s forests. According to their webpage, the organization was founded in 1966 with the vision of a reforested Indiana where the natural ecosystems are protected, where Hoosiers can enjoy a natural sanctuary in the complex modern world, and where harvests of our unique hardwoods are genuinely sustainable.
Conservation Director of the Indiana Forest Alliance, Rae Schnapp has been working with the organization for three years to, “protect the forest and promote restoration.”
The Indiana Forest Alliance has been documenting the wildlife that lives in the Hoosier National forest. Schnapp said, “a big concern is that there’s going to be logging and burning in this area that is a really good habitat for endangered species of bats.”
There are currently 7 species of bats in the Houston South area that are listed as endangered species. Schnapp explains that with the white nose disease populations declined “ really precipitously.”
The team surveyed the area to see if any bats were still present in the forests and found reproducing populations of the Northern Long Eared bats. However, with the plans of this project, Schnapp expressed her concern for what this would do to those surviving bats.
Schnapp goes on to explain how the Houston South area was picked for logging, saying that there was confusion about whether the area was even in the Lake Monroe watershed. She also explained why many citizens and members of the city government in Bloomington have been concerned about the location and the U.S. Forest Service’s adamancy on the project.
The Lake Monroe watershed is a 441 square mile drainage area for Lake Monroe, including Monroe, Brown, Lawrence, Jackson and Bartholomew County.
Many concerns for the Houston South forest project were derived from worries about how close the watershed is to the lake. Bloomington, IN began using Lake Monroe as a drinking water source in 1967.
In terms of water pollution from logging, this would most likely occur from erosion. Erosion happens when land is exposed from less trees in the area, and makes it easier for water and chemicals to run into the local waterways.
Forest Officials have stated that they plan to use efficient management practices to ensure no harm comes to the watershed. Schnapp explains reasoning to why they might be saying this but explains that erosion will still happen no matter how careful services are.
Schnapp goes on to express the extreme impacts that this erosion can have including the man-made lake tilting in.
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One of the plans listed in the management project for Houston South is the burning of 13,000 acres which Schnapp says won’t be burned at once, however she says there has been talk of the burns happening during the summer which could heavily impact species that breed during this time.
Schnapp explains that there are many different ways to manage forests, however people within the agency tend to use the word management when logging forests which is not always the same she says. She explains that the forest officials don’t believe there is enough young forest so they need to clear out the old trees.
One of the other reasons , Schnapp says, for managing the forests is to make way for oak trees that are a “marketable species.” She says that many native species are cut from the forests because they aren’t as profitable.
Schnapp states that there’s no reason why these trees should be cut down, saying that it should be happening naturally and follow the cycle of the forest ecosystem. She explains how this supports the food chain in return.
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On January 31, a letter was sent from the Monroe County Commissioners, Monroe County Council and the Monroe County Environmental Commission requesting forest service officials to consider various information before proceeding with the Restoration Project.
The Indiana Forest Alliance was part of that letter. Schnapp states that they asked for a compromise in light of such a huge project however a response has yet to be heard. She says this is a big issue that people are keeping an eye on especially because of the suspense in the U.S forest service officials’ response.
