Monroe County, Forest Alliance displeased with feds' response to Lake Monroe lawsuit

Officials for Monroe County and the Indiana Forest Alliance have criticized as inadequate and dismissive the response from federal forest officials to a court ruling over a logging and burning project that local leaders worry will damage Lake Monroe.

A judge this year said the U.S. Forest Service in its long-term plans for the Hoosier National Forest had failed to fully evaluate the project’s impact on Lake Monroe.

In response, the U.S. Forest Service last week made more information available but said that “a correction, supplement or revision to the project Environmental Assessment is not necessary.”

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However, a county attorney and a spokesman for a nonprofit said the feds’ response is wholly inadequate.

“They’re not responding to the court’s concern and they haven’t produced any new information,” said Jeff Stant, executive director of the Indiana Forest Alliance, a nonprofit devoted to the conservation and restoration of Indiana’s native hardwood forest ecosystem.

“They basically said what we did before is good enough, (and I’m) not sure that would satisfy the court’s ruling,” said Monroe County Attorney David B. Schilling, who emphasized he was speaking only for himself and not on behalf of the county agencies involved in the lawsuit.

Schilling said those agencies, the commissioners and the environmental commission, likely will have to meet in executive session to determine the best way to respond.

“The county does want to respond in some way,” he said.

The federal project, primarily in the northwest corner of Jackson County, includes logging and timber sales that would generate about $2.6 million for the federal government. The U.S. Forest Service also said it plans to burn as many as 12,300 acres and has designated more than 2,100 acres for selective herbicide. The project would take "several years," the agency said.

Federal government officials have said the project will improve forest health and sustainability of the oak-hickory ecosystems, improve wildlife habitat, promote tree growth, reduce insect and disease levels and increase resiliency of forested areas.

However, the location and scope of the planned project have raised concerns locally from elected officials, grassroots organizations, government commissions and residents. The land is in the watershed of Lake Monroe, the primary drinking water source for Bloomington and Monroe County.

Commissioners, the Forest Alliance and others in May 2020 sued the Forest Service over the project, called Houston South Vegetation Management and Restoration.

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A judge this year agreed with part of the commissioners’ argument that the Forest Service violated the National Environmental Policy Act by failing to fully evaluate the project’s environmental effects on Lake Monroe. The judge sent the project back to the Forest Service for further analysis.

The Forest Service responded recently by producing a Draft Supplemental Information Report “meant to provide information that further clarifies already available information … on the environmental effects to Lake Monroe and will facilitate the intent to show the public the Forest Service’s interest in protecting water quality to the communities surrounding the Hoosier National Forest.”

Stant said the agency plans to burn trees but has not at all addressed how it intends to prevent the sediment and nutrients from getting into streams that feed into Lake Monroe.

“All they did was further confirm that they don’t have a plan,” he said.

The public can comment on the new information, called a Draft Supplemental Information Report, through midnight Nov. 7. People who want to weigh in must do so in writing either via email, comments-eastern-hoosier@usda.gov; via mail, District Ranger Chris Thornton, Attn: Houston South SIR, 811 Constitution Ave., Bedford, IN 47421; or fax, 812-279-3423, Attn: Houston South SIR. Comments also can be hand-delivered to the Forest Service office on Constitution Avenue in Bedford weekdays between 8 a.m. and 4:30 p.m.

Stant said the Forest Alliance plans to submit comments, and he hopes the Forest Service addresses the commenters’ concerns in good faith rather than with an “attitude of dismissal.”

“Rest assured that if they’re not addressing the … concerns adequately that we will be reviewing all legal remedies available,” Stant said.

Schilling said if the county decides to have its response handled by the law firm it has hired for the case, there would be additional costs.

Boris Ladwig can be reached at bladwig@heraldt.com.

This article originally appeared on The Herald-Times: Monroe County, Forest Alliance: Feds' reply to lake lawsuit inadequate