Hoosiers enjoy their outdoor experiences. From Indiana’s beautiful hardwood trees, to the nature trails, to the wildlife that lives in these forests, Hoosiers love to get out and experience the natural areas that our state has to offer. Unfortunately these places are disappearing at a fast rate.
Indiana's forests are in crisis. Public lands belong to all Hoosiers, from the urban forests, parks and pathways that communities enjoy, to our state parks and forest lands, and our Hoosier National Forest. These public lands belong to you, as people of Indiana. These forests have been protected for all people to enjoy for their recreational value, including the protection for the many native creatures across the state reliant on healthy forest ecosystems.
Within our natural forests, Indiana’s wildlife is also struggling.
Hoosiers need our public forests and right now, the forests need you. In Lake County of north western Indiana, a fight to save an ancient dune area with its treasured neighborhood forest (save Briar East Woods) from a highway expansion continues. Along with protecting the few remaining neighborhood forests and reestablishing the tree canopies in our more urban areas, we have the chance to come together to ask the Governor to help protect, preserve, and conserve some of Indiana’s “natural” areas in our National Forests, and by setting aside wild areas in Indiana’s State Forests. Of the approx. 160,000 acres of State Forest Land, only 4,000 acres are set aside for NO LOGGING, compared to previous forest regulations that set 60,000 acres aside for recreation for humans, wildlife regeneration, water quality, the seed bank these forests provide for future generations. Protecting the complex, life-sustaining ecologies of these wild areas as far into the future as possible is a necessary step towards protecting the rights of Nature. By doing so, we protect not only nature's flora and fauna in these wild areas; we also protect Hoosiers’ access to their own history and culture, including the rest, recreation and inspiration that only these wild areas can provide us.
The Sierra Club Hoosier Chapter Conservation Committee is forming the Protecting Indiana Forests Campaign. We aim to address forest issues in Indiana, and we are searching for volunteers to help us try to increase protections for Indiana's forests.
We will be planning several outings to highlight urban forests, parks and pathways, state forests, and the Hoosier National Forest. Hoosiers enjoy their outdoor experiences and we need our forests standing for water quality, air quality, and for every creature that calls these forests home.
If you’re interested in learning more, please contact volunteer leader Lora Kemp: lorakemp1221@gmail.com
Join the Sierra Club Conservation Committee and help protect Hoosiers forests. Find out what you can do to help.
Lora Kemp
Vice Chair, Sierra Club Hoosier Chapter
lorakemp1221@gmail.com
Conservation Committee member, and team leader of the Protecting Indiana Forests Campaign
Contributors: Greg Grant and Marilyn Bauchat
PUBLIC LANDS DAY OF ACTION
Kick Off Sierra Club Hoosier Chapter Protecting Indiana Forests Campaign
On Saturday, June 7, the Sierra Club Hoosier Chapter will be taking a field trip to stand in solidarity with forest protection across the country. We will meet at 10 AM at Cataract Falls, State Recreation Area (just off 231 South of Cloverdale, Indiana.) We will be highlighting how the forests and the water work together while checking out Indiana’s largest waterfall and exploring where Mill Creek enters Cataract Lake. Our adventure will then take us to Cagle’s Mill Dam, where Mill Creek continues its journey to Deer Creek to join Big Walnut Creek, and eventually turns into the Eel River, which is part of the White River Watershed. We will caravan and carpool through the Owen and Putnam County countryside to discover the remote location where the Cagle’s Mill Dam is located. We will hike the forest trail designed by the Army Corps of Engineers, as well as the natural woods maintained around the Dam area. This beautiful natural is the perfect place to bring your sign, take a stand for public Land, enjoy an amazing hike, pack a lunch and a drink and discover some of Indiana’s finest adventures! This will be an all day adventure 10AM-3PM. Bring a snack and a drink and money for ice cream as we will stop by the historic Cataract school house that has been converted into an ice cream shop. This event is free but registration is required.