Indiana’s Yellowwood State Forest is a scenic forest that Indiana’s Department of Natural Resources put up for sale. But after conservationists gathered $150,000 to preserve the forest for another 100 years, the government sold it to a local logging company for $108,785.
Via IndyStar:
Nearly 200 protesters attended the sale, many with posters and various signs, calling on Gov. Eric Holcomb to stop the sale and preserve this section of the forest. Also during the protest, Daniel Antes, founder of Distinctive Hardwood Floors in Brown County made an offer on behalf of Bobby R. Bartlet.
Bartlet, president of hardwood furniture company Castlewood in Tell City, was willing to pay the DNR $150,000 not to cut down the trees, but to preserve them for 100 years.
Bartlet is not a licensed timber buyer, so his offer was outside the sale and could not be considered as part of the bidding process.
According to state rules, only licensed timber buyers are permitted to bid on timber sales. The Licensed Timber Buyer Law requires all buyers and their agents to be licensed with the DNR’s forestry division — a license costs $150 and the licensed buyer must also be bonded.
I grew up in the next county over from this beautiful area, and it’s a shame to see some of the last old growth forests in Indiana treated this way.
• What we know: What’s next for logging of Yellowwood Forest and $150K offer to preserve it (IndyStar)
Image: Wikimedia
