Guest blogger Ed Pope contributed this historic overview of the Hoosier National Forest’s formation.
Even in the earliest years of the American republic, there were those who were concerned about the future of our forests. This was mostly for practical, rather than environmental reasons. At the time, wood was the most common building material, used in everything from homes to ships.
In 1876, America’s centennial year, Congress funded a study of American forests. Five years later the forerunner of the Forest Service was established. Congress passed the Forest Reserve Act in 1891, which authorized the President to create forest reserves from public lands. This worked well in the west, where the federal government owned much of the land, but nearly everything in the east was in private hands.
There was much debate about whether the federal government had the authority to purchase privately held land at the time. The Forest Service argued that purchasing land was necessary to protect the headwaters of rivers used for interstate commerce. After much debate and legal challenges, the Weeks Act passed in 1911. It authorized the Secretary of Agriculture to protect navigable waterways by purchasing nearby land. Western states initially opposed the Weeks Act, since it would primarily benefit eastern states. After some politicking, fire control measures were added to the bill to obtain western support. The fire season of 1910 had been particularly bad, consuming over three million acres of forest land.
Like most of Indiana, the area that would become Hoosier National Forest was once farmed. Unfortunately, the hilly land was not well-suited for this purpose, and erosion soon became a problem once trees were cut. When railroads began to crisscross Indiana, they avoided the steep slopes. Mechanization made farmers more productive in the early part of the twentieth century, but larger, flatter fields were required.
Erosion and poverty were already major problems in the area when the Great Depression hit. In 1935, the Indiana legislature selected the location for Hoosier National Forest. The Department of Agriculture was flooded with offers from willing sellers, eager to leave and move on to greener pastures. It wasn’t until 1961 that sufficient acreage had been purchased and Hoosier National Forest was formally created on October 1. Since its formation, additional land purchases have increased the size of the forest to over two hundred thousand acres. By planting thousands of trees, the Forest Service stabilized the soil, curtailed erosion and made the land productive again. Timber is harvested annually from Hoosier National Forest.
In addition to providing timber, Hoosier National Forest has over 260 miles of trails for hikers, mountain bikers, and horse riders. It also contains the Charles C. Deam Wilderness Area, Indiana’s only federally designated wilderness area. Four federally endangered animals can be found within the forest: Two bats (Indiana bat and gray bat) and two mussels (Fanshell and rough pigtoe). The formerly endangered bald eagle nests there as well.
Ed Pope
Guest Blogger