« Ind. Law - "State law blocks backyard burial plans" | Main | Ind. Courts - "Judge To Rule On Bisard Alcohol Charges" »
Tuesday, May 31, 2011
Environment - "State forest trees are sold for logging: Group trying to save 1,300-plus specimens, thought to be protected"
From a May 27th story by Mary Beth Schneider of the Indianapolis Star:
More than 1,300 trees that environmentalists thought had been protected when Gov. Bob Orr declared them part of a backcountry haven in 1981 may soon be mere stumps.The state Department of Natural Resources auctioned rights to cut down the trees in the Morgan-Monroe and Yellowwood state forests Thursday morning to an Indiana logging company for $52,702. Now, the only thing standing between the trees and a chainsaw is legal action by the Indiana Forest Alliance.
Mick Harrison, a Bloomington attorney for the alliance, sent a "notice of intent to sue" -- the first legal step to block the timber cutting -- on Wednesday to Gov. Mitch Daniels and other state officials, as well as the federal Department of Interior. * * *
Controversy over cutting the trees began in 2009, when the state first offered them to logging companies but pulled back in the face of public resistance. But after the General Assembly failed to pass legislation to permanently keep the trees off-limits, the DNR this month put them back on the auction block.
Phil Bloom, a DNR spokesman, said 1,377 trees on 103 acres will be cut down in the forests, which encompass 47,000 acres in Southern Indiana. They include 271 black oaks, 127 yellow poplars and 122 large-tooth aspens.
Posted by Marcia Oddi on May 31, 2011 01:40 PM
Posted to Environment