Report urges lawmakers to fund declining conservation

Sophomore Jacob Fisk has been hiking ever since he could remember.

Outdoor recreation is something that runs in the family, Fisk said, and as a child he enjoyed going out with his family and exploring the natural world.

But with conservation programs such as the Land and Water Conservation Fund and the Forest Legacy Program declining, Fisk isn’t sure whether his children will have the same experiences he did growing up.

The Nature Conservancy, along with 51 national, regional and state land conservation and outdoor recreation groups, released a report this year documenting the decline of the Land and Water Conservation Fund and the Forest Legacy Program.

The report urges Congress and the Obama administration to supply the conservation fund with $900 million annually and allocate $125 million annually for the Forest Legacy Program.

The budget proposal for the 2010 fiscal year includes an increase for the Land and Water Conservation Fund and commits to the goal of reaching full funding of $900 million over the next five years.

Less than 4 percent of Indiana’s land is set aside for conservation and recreational purposes, said Angela Hughes, government and community relations associate for The Nature Conservancy. Indiana ranks 46th in the nation in the amount of state and federal recreation land.

Despite this, about 50 percent of Indiana’s citizens participate in hunting, fishing and wildlife viewing – 10 percent higher than the national average, Hughes said.

“There is some really refreshing, especially about camping,” Fisk said. “You’re much more in tune with your natural cycle – waking up when the sun goes up and going to sleep when it gets dark.”

Tyler Kivland, an assistant trip leader for IU Outdoor Adventures trips and a senior adventure specialist, said it is important for these natural areas to receive funding and continue to be protected.

“By eliminating these areas, you’re eliminating our classroom,” Kivland said. “That’s where our lessons happen. It’s hard to teach when you take away the classroom.”

Outdoor recreation has not only physical benefits, but mental ones as well, Kivland said, as he compared it with watching TV.

“When you’re outdoors, you’re using all of your senses at once,” Kivland said. “You’re having to see, taste, smell and hear. You’re challenging all of your senses all of the time. It keeps your brain active.”

While Hughes said the report on the whole is more nationally focused, she said it is still important for Indiana citizens.

“Obviously Hoosiers have visited many of those places that the report highlights,” she said. “People in Indiana use these public spaces a lot for recreation.”

However, because Indiana is largely an agricultural state, much of our land has been converted from its pre-settlement cover, Hughes said.

“Our natural resources are sadly the ones being cut, when it should be the other way around,” Kivland said.

Indiana has lost 80 percent of its forests, 85 percent of its wetlands and more than 99 percent of its prairies and other natural communities, Hughes said.

“One thing I’m really worried about is that we’re going to run out of all the green space, that the national parks and state parks will all become developed.” Fisk said.

“I’ve thought about it a lot. One particular area I’m worried about is loss of wilderness area, where there is pretty much no development allowed.”

Wilderness areas include minimal trails and some primitive campsites, but Fisk said it’s becoming harder and harder to find areas under that protection.

“These lands, especially the wilderness areas, we really have to preserve,” Fisk said. “Once they become developed, there’s really no going back. It’s not something that we can say, ‘Well, we can fix it later.’ Once we start developing, it takes centuries and centuries to even start to get back to its natural state.”