WFHB Bloomington Community Radio
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In this week’s Eco Report EXTRA, correspondent Zyro Roze gets an in depth update from Steven Stewart, Hoosier National Forest Program Director for the Indiana Forest Alliance (IFA), on the latest developments regarding grassroots activists’ pressure on state officials to rethink the Buffalo Springs Restoration Project to allow more public input, greater agency transparency and fuller assessment of economic and environmental impacts of proposed increases in logging and prescribed burning over hundreds of thousands of acres of Indiana forest lands.
Steven puts forth a call for considering a compromise between the all or nothing options thus far put forth, as IFA seeks to secure bipartisan support for broadening the topics included when planning how to manage public forests in light of climate change, with thought toward endangered species, water quality challenges and local economies built on nature tourism and outdoor recreation. Topics touched on are upcoming events, organizations with campaigns to change the current forest plan, the ecosystem services provided by our state’s remaining forests, preserving wildlife habitat, protecting some of the cleanest water sources left from erosion and chemical treatments, other examples of similar forest management in the region, differences from other areas of the country, and ways for citizens to voice their opposition and get involved in shaping a better framework going forward.
