The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Forest Service posted a Final Environmental Assessment and Draft Decision Notice for the Buffalo Springs Restoration Project at the Hoosier National Forest that is now available for public review at fs.usda.gov/project/hoosier/?project=60940. This initiates a 45-day pre-decisional objection process.
The Buffalo Springs Restoration Project will ensure a healthy and sustainable forest for the future by restoring native ecosystems and improving the forest’s resilience to the threats posed by climate change, non-native species, insects, and disease.
The result of the environmental assessment is a “Finding of No Significant Impact,” which means the data supports the finding that the environment will not be irreparably affected by the proposed actions. The proposed actions will be gradually implemented over the course of 10 to 15 years.
The Forest has also released a decision memo authorizing post-tornado salvage logging and removal of stream blockages within the Paoli Experimental Forest, which was an area included in the originally proposed action for Buffalo Springs. In addition, research on salvage logging after the 2023 tornado will help inform future decisions.
Per the National Environmental Policy Act, anyone who has previously submitted an official comment for this project has 45 days to submit an objection to the draft decision from the date of publication in the Perry County News, the newspaper of record.
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