Contact: Nick Buggia, Upper Midwestern States Manager
On August 14, Governor Holcomb and the Indiana Department of Natural Resources (DNR) announced the addition of two new state forests in the Hoosier State.
The 1,500-acre Ravinia State Forest was previously part of the Morgan-Monroe State Forest, and the 1,153-acre Mountain Tea State Forest was formerly a part of Yellowwood State Forest. Both will offer hunting opportunities in addition to a variety of other outdoor activities including hiking and camping.
The two new forests were separated from existing state forest land in order to facilitate better forest management on the two tracts. The DNR will plant 60,000 to 70,000 trees in Mountain Tea and Ravinia as part of an initiative to plant 1 million trees by 2025. The state has already planted 220,000 trees as part of this program. The state forests in Indiana are trending towards older growth, and the planting of these new trees will help to provide improved habitat for many wildlife species, including ruffed grouse, turkey, and a variety of songbirds.
Studies conducted at both the state and federal level have found that the number of hunters and trappers have been on a generally declining trend over the past several decades. To increase recruitment, retention, and reactivation (R3) of hunters and trappers, which initiative do you think would have the greatest impact?
