The Brown County Board of Commissioners voted last week to request the reintroduction of federal legislation that would add over 15,000 acres of existing Hoosier National Forest land to the Charles C. Deam Wilderness Area and establish a new recreation area.
The Benjamin Harrison National Recreation Area and Wilderness Establishment Act was previously introduced by then-U.S. Sen. Mike Braun and Rep. Erin Houchin (IN-9) in 2023 and 2024. The legislation proposed doubling the size of the Deam Wilderness, expanding it from 12,953 acres to 28,253 acres, and creating the first National Recreation Area in the state.
Wilderness areas like Deam face stricter regulations on recreational activity and land management than national forests. The use of motorized equipment and vehicles is prohibited for both the public and land managers.
The proposed bill had language to preserve the use of multiple roads and trails through the proposed wilderness area for use by mountain bikers and equestrians.
Read more: Boat rescue highlights challenges of Deam Wilderness emergencies
David Van Gilder, senior policy & legal director at Hoosier Environmental Council, said the proposed designation would protect the watershed from harmful management practices that introduce high levels of sediment and hurt water quality in Lake Monroe.
“We want to avoid sort of huge, large-scale projects that seem to be more for the convenience of the Forest Service than for the service of the ecology,” Van Gilder said.
The Hoosier Environmental Council has heard from those both for and against the potential legislation. He said that many details need to be worked out before the legislation could pass.
“We want to continue to encourage some members of our congressional delegation to consider introducing this or reintroducing a version of this again,” Van Gilder said. “If that happens, then we want to engage more people to help promote it, to start talking about those details. It's a long road.”
No members of Indiana’s congressional delegation have announced intent to reintroduce the bill this session.
