Judge Blocks Routes For Logging Along Lake Monroe

BLOOMINGTON, Ind. (AP) — A judge is blocking a property owner from using routes through woodlands near southern Indiana's Lake Monroe for logging work.

The judge says in a preliminary injunction that Joe Huff of Greenwood cannot use easements through nearby properties for logging crews to reach his more than 230 acres on a peninsula of the lake near Bloomington that's the state's largest reservoir. The Herald-Times reports the order comes after crews started removing timber from the land last month

Huff has said the logging is meant to remove fallen and diseased trees and improve the wooded area's overall health.

Neighbors sued to block the logging, saying the logging equipment would damage a private roadway. Officials also have raised concerns about possible impact to the reservoir that is Bloomington's water supply.