A crowd of over 50 concerned citizens gathered last Friday evening, June 10, in Paoli for the release of a draft Environment Assessment by the US Forest Service for their proposed Buffalo Springs Project.
The USFS is required by law to prepare an Environmental Assessment for the proposed project. When that happens, a 30-day public comment period is started. The Forest Service proposal includes a plan to log, burn, and chemically treat over 20,000 acres in the public Hoosier National Forest. Related work in the project will include road building/rebuilding to provide access for logging equipment.
Representatives from the US Forest Service were invited to attend the public information Q&A as well as a meeting last November following the release of a Scoping notice but declined the invitation to both events.
Some of the concerns addressed at the meeting involved forest preservation, historic value, water quality, and protection of native plant and wildlife species.
For more information on the meeting, contact Steven Stewart at (812) 340-5207.
