Help Stop the Buzzard's Roost Sale on the Hoosier National Forest
11/26/97
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Headline: Help Stop the Buzzard's Roost Sale on the Hoosier National Forest
Source: Heartwood
PO Box 1424
Bloomington, IN 47402
812.337.8898
812.337.8892 (fax)
heartwd@bluemarble.net
Date: 11/26/97
The following is a call for help to stop the Buzzard's Roost sale on
the Hoosier National Forest. It's a HUGE sale and its justification
laughable. We're asking for region-wide/national outcry on this one.
The Hoosier was the first national forest to be zero cut. This status
has changed with recent "salvage sales" and now this proposal. We will stop
this one. We need your help.
PLEASE share this alert with others. Send it to lists you subscribe to
or manage, if appropriate (we feel/hope it is!).
Folks can call the Heartwood office for more information. Many thanks!
peace in mind,
Megan
Heartwood
PO Box 1424
Bloomington, IN 47402
812.337.8898
812.337.8892 (fax)
heartwd@bluemarble.net
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Action Alert ---
Buzzards Roost, Hoosier National Forest
Forest Service plans to take over 10 million board feet from the
Hoosier!
The U.S. Forest Service has proposed a huge logging and burning
operation in the Hoosier National Forest. About 2000 acres would be
logged and 3000 acres burned. The Forest Service claims that the main
motivation for the destruction is to improve habitat for the endangered
Indiana bat. This project would affect more forest than all recent sales
of Hoosier trees. Please send written comment to Senator Lugar
requesting a 90-day extension of the comment period, which is set to end
December 19th. Point out the busyness of this season and the importance
of this issue, which deserves careful thought and attention. The
Senator will most likely pass your comments on to the Forest Service,
but it wouldn't hurt to request that he do so. (No matter if you're not
from Indiana. Senator Lugar is Chair of the Agriculture Committee. He
takes comments from all!)
Details
The logging and burning, to be carried out over the next five years,
would be done in the Buzzards Roost area of the Hoosier National Forest
in Perry and Crawford counties, about 10 miles south of English in
southern Indiana. The proposed sale includes 1,295 acres of hardwood
and 698 acres of pine. An estimated 5.7 million-board feet of pine and
4.6 of hardwood would be taken from the forest.
The Forest Service claims that the purpose of the logging is to "reduce
the density of hardwood stands to the levels preferred by the bat."
According to Tim Maloney, natural heritage director with the Hoosier
Environmental Council, "There's absolutely no literature that says
Indiana bats like areas that have been cut. They like mature, streamside
forests. The idea that you need to be cutting trees to improve their
habitat is ludicrous."
The Forest Service doesn't claim that burning 3,000 acres of forest will
benefit the Indiana bat, but that burning 575 acres of barrens and the
surrounding dry forest will restore the areas. Of the 3,099 acres to be
burned, 1,894 acres are to meet vegetative objectives, and 1,205 acres
would be burned "to provide for safe and operationally efficient burns
and to minimize fireline construction." The most likely reason for
burning these areas is to speed up the growth of oak, which has a higher
market value than most hardwoods.
The stated reasons for choosing the Buzzards Roost area include: 4,000
acres of high-density hardwood more than 80 years old, 529 acres with
large volumes of sawlog-sized wood per acre, and many roads to provide
access. Note that the plan calls for a total 18.4 miles of road
construction, of which 7.7 miles are new roads. The fundamental purpose
of the project is to produce income for the Forest Service by selling
the Hoosier.
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THE COMMENT PERIOD FALLS DURING THE BUSIEST TIME OF THE YEAR!
PLEASE URGE SENATOR LUGAR TO INSIST ON AN EXTENSION.
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Sample letter:
Senator Richard Lugar
306 Hart Senate Office Building
Washington, DC 20510
Dear Senator Lugar,
I am opposed to the Buzzards Roost Management Project, proposed by the
US Forest Service, which calls for logging 2,000 acres and burning 3,000
acres of the Hoosier National Forest in Perry and Crawford counties in
southern Indiana.
Public forests should not be sold off at a loss to taxpayers and the
forest ecosystem. The reason for this sale, to enhance habitat for the
Indiana Bat, is difficult to understand. Not only does the bat prefer
mature forests, but logging for one species denies the existence and
importance of all other species that depend on the forest. This issue
deserves our careful thought and attention. Please insist that the
Forest Service extend the comment period for at least 90 days. The
extension would put us beyond the busy holiday season and allow adequate
time to consider this important issue.
Thank you for your time and consideration. Please forward my opinion to
the Forest Service and respond to this letter with your thoughts on this
issue.
Sincerely,
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Senator Lugar's E-mail: lugar@iquest.org
To send comments directly to the Forest Service, write to:
Chip Weber
Hoosier National Forest
811 Constitution Ave.
Bedford, IN 47421
812.277.3596