Advocates fear that federal officials are on the verge of closing Indiana’s largest federal wildlife refuge, created 25 years ago in the southeastern part of the state.
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, U.S. Army and U.S. Air Force agreed in 2000 to turn the military’s old Jefferson Proving Ground spanning Jefferson, Jennings and Ripley counties into the Big Oaks National Wildlife Refuge and open it to the public, including hunters, fishers, birders, hikers and other wildlife enthusiasts.
Under the agreement, USFWS is responsible for operating and managing the refuge. But after more than 25 years, members of the Big Oaks Conservation Society, a nonprofit civilian group, fear the wildlife service will cancel the agreement. Doing so, members say, could mean the public will lose access to the refuge…