The U.S. Forest Service kicked off timber sales in the Hoosier National Forest this week despite resistance from advocacy groups and Gov. Mike Braun, who called the federal project “misguided.”

The timber auction is part of a controversial forest management plan called the Houston South Project — an initiative the USFS says will promote tree growth, reduce disease and move the landscape toward “desirable conditions.”

Local environmental advocates have been suing the agency to halt operations since 2020, saying the project could jeopardize the quality of drinking water 130,000 Hoosiers rely on in Lake Monroe.

But the project is plowing ahead, despite local outcry and direct pleas from Braun to halt the project. The Forest Service declined to immediately comment to IndyStar’s request, instead asking for one to two weeks to respond.

“Inaction is not a viable option for ensuring long-term forest health and sustainability,” Chris Thornton, the Hoosier National Forest District Ranger, wrote in a March 2025 statement. He pointed to the history of human impact on the landscape and the growing stress of climate change and invasive species. “There is no option available that ‘lets nature fix itself.’”

The project includes prescribed burns on 13,500 acres of forest and permitting timber harvests on another 4,300 acres across the next 10-15 years.

Braun, who tried to conserve large swaths of the forest during his time in the Senate, indicated he isn’t done working to halt the project. He said he has other ideas for management of the forest.

“The fact that they’ve started it doesn’t mean that they’ll necessarily complete it, and I’m sure there might be some other actions to try to stop it,” Braun told IndyStar. “When something is that mismanaged as a federal asset, it might be smarter to be managed here from Indiana.”

Pollution in Lake Monroe

Local environmental advocates also disagree with Thornton’s assessment. Groups worry the potential erosion from the project could exacerbate existing water quality issues at Lake Monroe, which is the primary water source for people in the Bloomington area.

Fertilizers, manure, sediment and septic system leakage from the surrounding watershed can seep into the lake during rainfall, introducing nutrients like phosphorous and nitrogen into the water.

These excess nutrients, plus stagnant water and warm temperatures all seem to increase the frequency of toxic algal blooms, according to Lake Monroe’s watershed management plan. The blooms can be harmful to the health of children, pets and wildlife, as well as alter the taste and odor of drinking water.

The real pain point, according to Sherry Mitchell-Bruker, a hydrologist and president of Friends of Lake Monroe, is the accumulation of contaminants coming in from every direction. The vast watershed of Lake Monroe, which spans 441 square miles, makes it hard to pinpoint one specific source of pollution.

“Everything that’s happening in the watershed is contributing to the problems in the lake,” she said.

The Indiana Forest Alliance, Monroe County Board of Commissioners, Hoosier Environmental Council and Friends of Lake Monroe filed a lawsuit in 2023 — the second suit in a growing feud between locals and the USFS — citing concerns about how the steep slopes near Lake Monroe made the area especially susceptible to erosion as trees are felled and the logs pulled away.

Prior reporting from IndyStar showed Hoosier National Forest officials decided to move forward with the project in 2024 after determining it would have no significant impact on Lake Monroe’s water quality.

“Historically we’ve monitored our past projects and found (best management practices) to be 96.5% effective,” Thornton was quoted as saying in the article. “And while that’s not perfect, that’s still a pretty good grade, and I can assure you that water quality is so very important to us.”

Mitchell-Bruker isn’t convinced the Forest Service gave appropriate consideration to broader runoff problems.

“They have done a very minimal analysis that does not take into consideration of the cumulative effects on the watershed,” she said. “They’re going to have erosion. I mean, they can work to control it and depending on how well they enforce their best management practices, how lucky they are with the weather, it may work out well.”

But it also has the potential for catastrophe, Mitchell-Bruker added.

“Once you’ve added those extra nutrients into the lake, it’s hard to get rid of them. We don’t have any magic tool to just pull out those nutrients away, and so we can’t afford to make mistakes.”

Timber sales begin

At an auction last week in Tell City, the Paoli-based company Andis Logging had the highest and only bid for the 39 acre timber lot. A Forest Service employee said at the auction the agency would hold the bid for a few days to make sure more bids postmarked before the deadline don’t arrive late through the mail.

Jeff Stant, the former executive director of the Indiana Forest Alliance, went to the auction to protest the sale, and he said he visited the plot of timber on his way home.

“The last thing we should be doing,” he said, “is logging on steep slopes that are right in the watershed.”

Stant also voiced concerns the premise of the project isn’t aligned with what he views as good forest management.

“They think that they have to do this logging and burning for the forest and its health,” he said. “And we think that they’re completely wrong in those conclusions. The forest is taking care of itself.”

As the project chugs along, advocates for the forest are still trying to find ways to halt the planned logging and burning.

Braun said he wants the Forest Service to listen to him and the people who live near the forest and use it.

“To me, it’s a classic case of something being managed poorly from afar, and we need to change,” he said.

When asked if he is planning any taking further steps to intervene, the governor said: “I’m a resourceful individual, so I’ll find out what the other options are.”

IndyStar’s environmental reporting project is made possible through the generous support of the nonprofit Nina Mason Pulliam Charitable Trust.

Sophie Hartley is an IndyStar environment reporter. You can reach her at sophie.hartley@indystar.com or on X at @sophienhartley.