Sustainability Now! | Andy Mahler & Kari Nolan | Protect Our Woods | Hoosier NF | 2-10-25

On this week’s Sustainability Now!, we bring you to he heart of the woods to join the struggle to protect southern Indiana’s Hoosier National Forest from the extractive economy. Your host, Justin Mog, welcomes back to the program Kari Nolan, an herbalist, educator, and therapist and spokesperson for Save The Hoosier National Forest, and Heartwood (https://heartwood.org); and we also have Heartwood's founder, Andy Mahler, who also co-founded the 40-year old organization Protect Our Woods. In 2025, Kari will be moving back into the forest permanently, after 40 years of living there periodically between travels; and the efforts of this small group have been going on for 40 years, among friends who have lived in the forest even longer, some for many generations. This rich and diverse area, and the people working to protect it, exist in deep connection with the air and water quality of our entire Ohio Valley & beyond, globally. The escalation of some National Forest Service practices, designated as a current "Buffalo Springs Restoration Project,” after nearly 30 years of relative peace in the forest include: commercial logging of old growth timber, unwarranted burn cycles (not native forest cycles in this region) and clear-cutting (often without leaving a mother tree in place, leading to no forest regeneration in clear-cut areas); air quality & watershed destruction is also a huge cascading issue for the Louisville & Southern Indiana regions, from these practices. Basically, the group is asking only for cessation of these few practices, as a change in Forest Service management policies, "letting the forest be, and regenerate itself,” to align with what is needed now, in our present era of climate & forest change.

You can donate to support this work at https://heartwood.org/support/donate/ Or send checks to: Protect Our Woods P.O. Box 352 Paoli, Indiana 47454 Heartwood encourages listeners to contact MIke Braun, Indiana's new governor, with a message to protect our public lands by stopping the Buffalo Springs project until an inclusive study of potential significant impacts can be completed through an Environmental Impact Statement (EIS), and a new updated Forest Management plan can be created for the Hoosier National Forest: Mike Braun 200 W Washington St Indianapolis IN 46204 317.232.4567 To send an email, go to http://www.in.gov/gov/ then select "Ask Mike" Governor Braun is aware & listening: https://www.wishtv.com/news/politics/gov-mike-braun-urges-withdrawal-of-buffalo-springs-forest-project/?fbclid=IwY2xjawIUSX1leHRuA2FlbQIxMQABHSsibnCnFuHfk6M3tkcYREB_JVo84ipYn5nKP2Xjp9Ce-eVG9bp8Vk0Ahw_aem_WTT__HSZQ82tyRtAz8wa1w Find updates on this work at: Protect Our Woods Facebook Group https://www.facebook.com/groups/209054591368266/ Heartwood Facebook Group https://www.facebook.com/groups/34815829952 For more, listen to this 2022 podcast with Andy: https://greenrootpodcast.podbean.com/e/exposing-the-buffalo-springs-restoration-project-with-andy-mahler-of-protect-our-woods/ As always, our feature is followed by your community action calendar for the week, so get your calendars out and get ready to take action for sustainability NOW! Sustainability Now! is hosted by Dr. Justin Mog and airs on Forward Radio, 106.5fm, WFMP-LP Louisville, every Monday at 6pm and repeats Tuesdays at 12am and 10am. Find us at http://forwardradio.org The music in this podcast is courtesy of the local band Appalatin and is used by permission. Explore their delightful music at http://appalatin.com