“In wildness is the preservation of the world,” wrote Henry David Thoreau in Walden in 1854. Now, in this photo essay, journalist and photographer Steven Higgs considers Thoreau’s declaration vis à vis the Deam Wilderness Area in the Hoosier National Forest, especially in light of proposed legislation that would double the Deam’s size. Click here for a Deep Dive into “the Hoosier.”
Over thousands of years and across diverse landscapes, Indigenous peoples developed traditional ecological knowledge about the bison and their ecosystems, writes Indigenous scholar Rosalyn R. LaPier, an enrolled member of the Blackfeet tribe. Meanwhile, tribes also developed religious customs and sacred places important to their relationship with bison. Click here for this article from The Conversation.
Legislation recently introduced by Sen. Mike Braun would add 15,300 acres to the Charles C. Deam Wilderness Area’s 12,953 acres, making places like Nebo Ridge, Browning Mountain, Bad Hollow, and Panther Creek off-limits to logging. The bill would also create the 29,000-acre Benjamin Harrison National Recreation Area, Indiana’s only national recreation area. Click here for details about the bill.
This is the second article in a two-part series on lax ethics rules in the Indiana State Legislature. Both articles come from a joint investigation between the Indiana Environmental Reporter and the Arnolt Center for Investigative Journalism that shows how some Indiana lawmakers stood to benefit financially from environmental legislation they introduced or supported. Click here for the article.
“Lake Monroe is a reservoir, and all reservoirs eventually fill up,” says Michelle Cohen, executive director of Lake Monroe Water Fund. But, she adds, those who rely on the lake for drinking water, recreation, and other uses have the power to extend its life as long as possible. Writer Michael G. Glab takes a deep dive into the health of Lake Monroe. Click here for his report for Deep Dive: WFHB & Limestone Post Investigate.
Jill Bond, news director for The Herald-Times, says Monroe County does not have to become a news desert. “We can regain local control of access to information about our community,” she says. For starters, Bond created a local news fund at the Community Foundation and is auctioning more than 1,000 books of newspapers, spanning about 100 years, to support the fund. Click here to read Jill Bond’s column.
The Arnolt Center for Investigative Journalism and the Indiana Environmental Reporter reviewed statements of economic interest filed in 2022 by Indiana’s state lawmakers. They found more than 100 bills enacted from 2019 to 2022 that benefit industries the authors have ties to, creating at least the appearance of a conflict of interest. Click here to read their findings.
Indiana’s electricity comes primarily from coal, natural gas, and a growing renewables market. The transition to renewables, though, is not without problems, and the grid operators, regulators, and Indiana legislators are at odds with how to handle it. Rebecca Hill takes an in-depth look at Indiana’s power structure, as part of Deep Dive: WFHB & Limestone Post Investigate. Click here to read about the transition of Indiana's energy landscape.
Ginkgo, bur oak, bald cypress, sassafras, and paw-paw are just a few of the notable trees that — in addition to their practical value — give Indiana University’s Bloomington campus its “entrancing” appeal. Since IU bought twenty acres from Moses Fell Dunn in 1883, writes Laurie D. Borman, great care has been given to IU’s beloved trees. Click here for an article and photo gallery on the trees of IU.
Honey bee populations in the U.S. have declined from 6 million in the 1940s to 2.5 million today. Pesticides, drought, and habitat destruction, are just a few reasons the bees are dying. But more than 200,000 hobbyist beekeepers, like writer Erin Hollinden, are trying to keep them (and ultimately us) alive. Click here to read Erin’s article.
“Travel with Laurie” is a new Limestone Post series by Laurie D. Borman about the sundry and fascinating travel destinations in southern Indiana. In her first article, Laurie explores some of the historic treasures in and around the highly rated resort towns of French Lick and West Baden Springs. Click here to hop aboard!
How to create a garden that is resilient to the vagaries of Indiana weather? Jami Scholl, a writer and gardener who was active in the early stages of the urban agriculture movement in Bloomington, says we must work with the forces of nature and “the basic environmental limiting factors of sunlight, water, and soil.” Click here for Jami’s tips on creating a resilient garden.
![[Photo Gallery: 20 photos]: Legislation recently introduced by Sen. Mike Braun would double the size of the Charles C. Deam Wilderness Area by Lake Monroe and convert another 29,000 acres of Hoosier National Forest into the Benjamin Harrison National Recreation Area. This photo was taken from the Hickory Ridge Lookout Tower, which stands 133 steps above the Deam’s Terrill Ridge, a thousand feet above sea level. Built in 1939 to identify forest fires, the tower is a popular destination due to its magnificent 360-degree view of the Southern Indiana forest. | All photography in the gallery above by Steven Higgs](https://limestonepostmagazine.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/feature-1-1.jpeg)
