Amos Butler Audubon Society has been requested by the Indiana Forest Alliance to ask for you to consider contacting your US Representative and Senator Todd Young and asking them to support H.R. 8535, the Benjamin Harrison National Restoration Area and Wilderness Establishment Act of 2024

URGENT: Congress Has Less Than 2 Weeks to Expand the Deam Wilderness!

After years of effort from environmental advocates to secure passage of The Benjamin Harrison National Recreation Area and Wilderness Establishment Act, we are closing in on our final opportunity to pass this landmark legislation – and WE NEED YOUR HELP!

This bill, written by Indiana’s US Sen. Mike Braun and Rep. Erin Houchin would permanently preserve 15,300 acres of pristine national forest, more than doubling the size of Indiana’s protected Charles C. Deam Wilderness from 12,953 acres to 28,253 acres.  The bill will also establish the Benjamin Harrison National Recreation Area on 29,382 surrounding acres to protect the Monroe Reservoir drinking water supply and the recreational, habitat and scenic values of this area unique in the lower midwest. The bill has bipartisan support in the Senate, but needs your help to pass the House before the end of December when this Congress ends.

Please use this link to contact your US Representative and urge them to support H.R. 8535 – Benjamin Harrison National Recreation Area and Wilderness Establishment Act of 2024 (also S 4402 in the Senate, formerly S 2990) before time runs out.

Also contact Indiana’s other US Senator, Todd Young, at 202-224-5623, or by clicking this link: https://www.young.senate.gov/contact/email-todd/ and ask him to become a stronger supporter of the Senate version of the bill, S.4402.

To view more about this legislation, including a map of the proposed area, use this link.
For questions about this legislation, contact Indiana Forest Alliance Director of Communications and Legislative Affairs Evan Robbins at: evan@indianaforestalliance.org

Featured Image: Nebo Ridge, in Hoosier National Forest, is part of the area which would be permanently protected if this bill is signed into law before year’s end. Photo by: Denis Kelly