Local residents of the Lake Monroe area voiced concerns about best management practices and the potential disturbance of soil and lake water quality. (Alex Eady, WTIU/WFIU News)
The Hoosier National Forest is working on a planned multi-phase logging project in the Lake Monroe Watershed.
The proposed Houston South project targets 4,000 acres of land for timber harvesting southeast of the Lake Monroe area.
Friends of Lake Monroe, a Southern Indiana conservation group, hosted a public meeting Thursday to discuss the proposed project. Hoosier National Forest Supervisor Michael Chaveas presented on the proposal and the related pros and cons to timber harvesting.
"We’re trying to reach some broader long-term good, and yes there are going to be some short-term impacts," says Chaveas. "But we have to make that trade off, is one worth the other? And that’s part of the analysis process that we’re just starting to launch into.”
Chaveas says timber harvesting is not the agency’s goal, but rather a tool to maintain and diversify the habitat and regenerate key species.
But conservation advocates argue that logging is a highly invasive process. Sherry Mitchell-Brukeris the founder of the Friends of Lake Monroe group. She says the Hoosier National Forest should consider alternatives that won’t threaten the Monroe Watershed area.
"We can have the patience to allow this forest resource to follow a natural succession and it isn’t going to happen overnight but it will happen with much less impact," says Mitchell-Brukeris.
Other local residents voiced concerns about best management practices and the potential disturbance of soil and lake water quality.
Chaveas says only 0.15 percent of Hoosier National Forest land is impacted by harvests in any given year and all projects are analyzed by experts before they’re approved.
The Hoosier National Forest will continue conduct research and receive public feedback before scheduling the project next year.
