What does it mean to defend our land? There is a great deal of concern about homeland security these days, and rightly so. There is growing danger, however, that homeland security is being defined in extremely narrow terms. Homeland security is much more than a military affair. It also involves securing life-support systems, clean air, water and soil, for now and for future generations. And this must take place at the local level.

We in Indiana are blessed with 13 beautiful state forests. Although these are located in the southern part of the state, they are public lands that provide recreational space for all Indiana residents. The Department of Natural Resources has played an important role in bringing forests back to once-abused land. This was rationalized in part to provide the state with a source of commercial timber.

The commercial logging program administered by the DNR's Division of Forestry was set up more than 100 years ago. Although it may have served the state's needs well then, we now live at a time in which much has changed. The American Museum of Natural History in New York City has recently released a report warning that we are now moving into the fastest and most devastating mass extinction in our planet's history (see www.massextinction.net).

One of the major causes cited for this alarming development is the loss of habitat for wildlife and plants. According to the Purdue University Department of Forestry, forest fragmentation is the No. 1 threat to the health and biodiversity of Indiana forested lands. Timber harvests are a major cause of forest fragmentation.

The only way to resist the slippery slope into the extinction of species is to develop significant preserves for biodiversity that would be closed to commercial extraction and development yet remain open for human appreciation and recreation. What better land to do this with than our state forests? We in Indiana shouldn't have to drive to Montana to experience the beauty and joys of wild places. If left to mature, the state forests of southern Indiana could provide this experience.

We can afford to preserve our public state forests since only 1 percent of the timber used in Indiana comes from them. We can meet our timber needs by logging private land in a sustainable manner. However, about 80,000 acres of state forest land now is open to commercial logging, much of which is done on an incredibly short 20- to 25-year rotation.

In thinking about homeland health and security, we need to consider the economics of the state's logging program. How do we want to use the shrinking funds available to us? While some money is generated by the sale of trees, an argument can be made that the hidden costs, including building roads to log a site and repairing roads damaged by heavy logging trucks, actually are more than the state makes with the logging program. Thus, we not only lose our beautiful forests but have to pay good money for this loss.

Moreover, the government's subsidized logging program in state forests drives down the price of timber throughout the region, diminishing profits for private woodland owners and encouraging unsustainable logging practices. Damage to public forests can also have a negative economic impact on tourism in southern Indiana, where visitors come to enjoy the natural beauty of the remaining forests of this region.

The DNR maintains that it is managing the state forests for multiple uses, but logging an area clearly eliminates all other uses for a long time. It is as if the Division of Forestry allows us to enjoy an area of our own public forests only until it plans to log it. Then both the forest and our enjoyment of it are sacrificed to maintain the logging program. Imagine instead if our state forests could be reserved for special recreational uses and protected, fully intact, for future generations.

What, then, does it mean to secure our Indiana homeland? Clearly, our future will depend in many ways on the existence of healthy forests as sources and filters for clean air, water and soil, as preserves for biodiversity and as places where we can renew our souls.

The Indiana legislature has the power to change state forest management policies. Please call your state representatives (1-800-382-9842) to express your concern and ask them to work to end commercial logging in our state forests.

Haberman is professor of religious studies at Indiana University and co-coordinator of the Indiana Forest Alliance.

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