WHO: Protect our Woods, a public advocacy group opposed to the US Forest Service’s plans to
conduct “restoration” activities, in the Orange and Crawford county portion of the Hoosier National
Forest. Three project will include clearcuts, timber thinning, prescribed burns, and chemical spraying.
Related work will include road building/rebuilding to provide access for logging equipment.
WHAT: Public information meeting.
WHEN: Friday, June 10 from 6:00 – 8:00 pm EDT.
WHERE: The Orange County 4-H Community Building at 293 W Daniel Lane, Paoli, IN 47454
WHY: The meeting is to inform the public of the Forest Service’s plan to clearcut, log, repeatedly
burn or chemically treat thousands of acres in beautiful Orange County, Indiana Hoosier National
Forest. The USFS calls this the Buffalo Springs “Restoration” Project.
A group of concerned citizens has formed to oppose the restoration project. The group is proposing
an alternate plan that will promote the development of mature forests for recreational use by all
persons, rather than using the Hoosier National Forest for the sale of timber.
The project comes under the current Forest Land and Resource Management Plan (Forest Plan),
which was approved in 2006. By federal law, the Forest Plan must be revised every 15 years to
reflect current knowledge and goals. The group is requesting that the legally-required plan revisions
be completed prior to initiation of the Buffalo Springs project, and that the Buffalo Springs Scoping
documents be revised according. The Forest Plan should be revised to recognize and support the
changes in our world and national forest since 2006.
The USFS is required to prepare an Environmental Assessment (EA) for the proposed restoration
project, and the agency has said the EA will be released in May, now past. When that happens, a 30-
day public comment period is started. The group will discuss the commenting process and the need
for the public to express their opinions about this project during this short window of time.
A similar plan in Monroe County was recently blocked by a federal judge due to the Forest Service’s
lack of analysis of the project’s impact to the drinking water quality of the Lake Monroe Reservoir. The
same negative impacts would happen to Patoka Lake and Springs Valley Lake in Southern Indiana.
