Indiana Forest Alliance asks Brown County to back Dean Wilderness expansion and vacate Combs Road; Forest Service urges caution

Jeff Stan, National Forest Program advisor for the Indiana Forest Alliance, told the Brown County Board of Commissioners he is asking the county to support reintroducing federal legislation to expand the Dean Wilderness and to create a Benjamin Harrison National Recreation Area.

Stan said the proposal would add roughly 15,300 acres to the existing Dean Wilderness, bringing the protected wilderness to about 28,253 acres, and would establish a roughly 30,000‑acre recreation area surrounding the expanded wilderness. He called the proposal a way to protect the Monroe Reservoir watershed, preserve rare plants and animals and promote recreation near Nashville. "We're here today to ask you to support the reintroduction of federal legislation that would expand the Dean Wilderness in the Hoosier National Forest ... and establish the Benjamin Harrison National Recreation Area," Stan said.

The presentation emphasized species and landscape values in the Brown County Hills, naming the Indiana bat, the northern long‑eared bat, cerulean warbler and old‑growth oaks as conservation priorities. Stan also outlined design features of the draft bill intended to reduce local opposition: the proposal excludes private property and Army Corps lands; it preserves existing utility easements; and it writes in narrow non‑wilderness corridors to allow several mountain‑biking routes and an existing fiber‑optic easement to continue.

Stan asked the commissioners to request that U.S. Rep. Hin and U.S. Sens. Young and Banks re‑introduce the legislation and to vacate the closed southern portion of Combs Road ‘‘conditioned upon the Forest Service establishing a hiking, mountain biking, horseback riding trail on the alignment of the vacated road.’’ He told the board the closed segment has been impassable for decades and that reopening it for vehicles would be costly and would harm wilderness character.

Mike Chavis, forest supervisor for the Hoosier National Forest, told the commission the proposal represents "a pretty fundamental change to the use and access of tens of thousands of acres" and that the Wilderness Act imposes limits on management. "The Wilderness Act specifically prohibits use of motorized and mechanized equipment," he said, noting that the restriction applies to Forest Service crews as well as the public and can make routine work — trail reroutes, insect or disease response, prescribed work — much harder. He also warned that spelling out many narrow non‑wilderness corridors could lock in routes that later prove unsustainable: "Once it's locked in law, we cannot do that. So our only options will be to close and eliminate that trail or make it hike only," he said.

Property owners and residents who spoke during public comment largely endorsed Stan's request that the county support the legislation and said they favored permanently vacating the closed segment of Combs Road. Landowner Jim Kllin said repeated burglaries and illegal activity before the closure convinced him the road should remain closed; Susie Hover, another property owner, said the gate and closure have stopped theft and off‑road destruction and that she supports decommissioning the road while keeping recreational (non‑motorized) uses.

Commissioners said they are familiar with the Combs Road history and that the board has previously used a temporary five‑year closure mechanism. They directed staff and the county attorney to prepare options and said a resolution or letter of support could be placed on the July 15 agenda for additional public comment.

What happens next: commissioners said staff will prepare a fact sheet and the county attorney will review the legal steps required to permanently vacate the road and to consider a formal letter or resolution of support for federal legislation. The Forest Service said any trail designation or maintenance on a vacated alignment would require environmental analysis, public input and available funding.

Ending: The commission did not take a formal vote on support for the legislation at this meeting; it scheduled further consideration and public comment for the July 15 session.