Indiana has two new state forests, covering more than 2,600 acres in south central Indiana.
Gov. Eric Holcomb on Friday introduced Ravinia State Forest, near Paragon in Morgan County, and Mountain Tea State Forest, east of Nashville, the first forests the state has dedicated in 67 years, Holcomb said.
“It’s great to gather in the woods and celebrate recreation and conservation in the state of Indiana,” Holcomb said. “We’ll continue to make that progress in enhancing the great outdoors and all the diversity in our state.”
Recreational opportunities, such as hiking, gathering mushrooms, nuts and berries, viewing wildlife, hunting and fishing, will largely remain the same even with the new designation, although officials from the Indiana Department of Natural Resources will look to add biking trails, said John Seifert, director of the DNR’s division of forestry.
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“Moving forward we will build more infrastructure and better trails,” Seifert said.
The new state forests will include 60,000 to 70,000 trees of the million the state has pledged to plant by 2025. In October, Ravinia State Forest got assistance from the Indiana Fever and Indiana Pacers basketball teams in planting about 5,000 trees.
More than 700 acres of Mountain Tea State Forest, formerly managed by The Nature Conservancy, was acquired by the State of Indiana in 2013, with the assistance of the U.S. Forest Service through the Forest Legacy Program, according to a news release from the governor’s office. Additional acreage had been acquired in 2009 through purchases from private land owners.
Ravinia State Forest was acquired through the Indiana Department of Transportation’s Crossroads 2000 fund, the news release said.
Distinguishing the two forests as separate entities of nearby Morgan-Monroe State Forest will help promote public awareness of the two forests, Seifert said.
“Most counties outside here didn’t know these (forests) were here,” Seifert said. “This gives it its own life.”
After a brief news conference, members of the Department of Natural Resources joined Holcomb for a ribbon cutting ceremony at Ravinia State Forest, followed by a brief hike.
“We have so many enthusiasts here: bikers, wildlife specialists and naturalists, or newcomers looking for good, clean, fresh Indiana air,” Holcomb said. “Maybe during times like this it’s even more important to get out and temporarily get lost in the woods, lost of your troubles and reorient yourselves in our beautiful state parks and state forests.”
