NOVEMBER NEWS - OUR WONDROUS WATERSHED And MORE

Join us on Friday November 3 for the opening of "Our Wondrous Watershed."

Join Us This Friday at  Our Wondrous Watershed This Friday November 3rd is opening night for Our Wondrous Watershed, a new photo exhibit featuring work by fourteen members of the Bloomington Photography Club.  Photos in the exhibit were captured in the Lake Monroe watershed, an area spanning more than 440 square miles, reaching into five counties. Drop in between 5:00 and 8:00 to admire the photographs, enjoy light refreshments, and chat with other members of Friends of Lake Monroe. Important!  We need your help.  There are two contradictory actions looming for Hoosier National Forest Senate Bill 2990, the Benjamin Harrison National Recreation Area and Wilderness Establishment Act of 2023, which will expand the existing Deam Wilderness Area and create a National Recreation Area. A proposed logging and burning project in the Houston South area that continues to be under litigation.  Please take a moment to support the first proposal and oppose the second.   Senate Bill 2990 will convert most of the acreage within the Houston South project to wilderness and a National Recreation Area.  The National Recreation Area would include specific protections for Lake Monroe and double the size of the Deam Wilderness, while preserving private land access.  The bill was introduced by Senator Mike Braun. Please ask Representative Erin Houchin to introduce SB 2990 in the U.S. House of Representatives.  Contact her Legislative Director, Jonathan Van Buren, at JVB@mail.house.gov.  Also please ask Senator Todd Young to cosponsor SB 2990. Contact his Legislative Assistant for Public Lands, Burke Miller, at Burke_Miller@young.senate.gov.    The Houston South project involves logging, burning and applying herbicides in the Lake Monroe watershed.  Previously, Hoosier National Forest seemed unaware that the Houston South project is in the Lake Monroe watershed and claimed that their actions will have no impact on Lake Monroe.  Friends of Lake Monroe has repeatedly asked in official comments and court briefings that HNF take a hard look at the potential impacts on Lake Monroe.  Instead, our concerns have been met with claims that there would be no significant impacts on Lake Monroe because Best Management Practices (BMPs) would be used.  The threat to water quality from HNF’s proposed extensive logging and burning might possibly be reduced by proper implementation of BMPs, but it will not be eliminated. The only way to genuinely ensure that there will be no significant impacts from the Houston South project is to leave the forest intact and forgo logging and burning in the Lake Monroe watershed. If BMP implementation is used to ensure the product will not harm water quality, HNF must provide evidence from their BMP monitoring and evaluation reports of past forestry BMP implementation and effectiveness to support their conclusions.  They have not done so.  Please let Hoosier National Forest District Ranger, Chris Thornton, know that you do not support this risky and unnecessary project by commenting on the draft Supplemental Environmental Assessment (SEA) for the Houston South Vegetation Management and Restoration Project by November 19th.   Comments can be submitted to Christopher Thornton any of the following ways: Mail: 811 Constitution Ave., Bedford, IN, 47421 Fax: 812-279-3424 Email: comments-eastern-hoosier@usda.gov with subject line, Houston South Vegetation Management and Restoration Project Supplement Thank you for using your voice to protect Lake Monroe! Fireside Chat on December 4th Join Friends of Lake Monroe, the Brown County Soil & Water Conservation District, and the Indiana University Environmental Resilience Institute for a fireside chat on Monday December 4th at 1:00 in the Brown County Public Library.  We will review the work that has been completed through FLM's Conservation Cost-Share Program along with other initiatives being spearheaded by the Brown County SWCD.  Funding is available for many projects that benefit water quality including agricultural conservation practices, septic system maintenance, and soil testing.  We will also hear from Bill Brown with the IU Environmental Resilience Institute about future opportunities for funding water quality work.  Please come by and say hello! Support Our Work - Donate Today! Share Tweet Forward Referenced links: https://www.friendsoflakemonroe.org   Copyright © 2022 Friends of Lake Monroe, All rights reserved.  You are receiving this email because you signed up to join Friends of Lake Monroe  Our mailing address is:  Friends of Lake Monroe PO Box 3145 Bloomington, In  47402 Want to change how you receive these emails? You can update your preferences or unsubscribe from this list.

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