Andy Mahler

“HEC gives voice to the people of the State of Indiana who want a healthy future for their children and grandchildren and for all the other creatures who depend on our air, land, water and soil for their survival.”

Andy Mahler and his wife Linda Lee have a small farm and lodge called the Lazy Black Bear, south of Paoli, at the end of a dead-end road surrounded by the Hoosier National Forest.

Andy has been active in forest protection efforts since 1985 and has helped start several forest protection organizations including Protect Our Woods, Heartwood, and the Indiana Forest Alliance. Andy and Linda have also been involved in promoting healthy local food, having helped start the Orange County Homegrown farmers markets in Orleans and French Lick, and the Lost River Market and Deli, a member-owned foods co-op in Paoli. They were also successful in stopping a 2,000 hog CAFO that had been proposed within their beautiful neck of the woods.

Andy’s biggest focus right now is stopping the 30,000 acre Buffalo Springs “Restoration” Project, the largest and most destructive logging, road-building, burning, clearcutting, and herbicide spraying project ever proposed on the 200,000 acre Hoosier National Forest.

Andy and Linda support HEC, because it is the general public’s advocate in the legislature and in the halls of power.