Hessville Dune Dusters in Briar East Woods
Volunteers are restricted from doing clean up at Hammond's Briar East Woods
Contributed By: The 411 News
City is erecting wire fence around property to prepare for Governors Parkway Rail Bridge
Hessville Dune Dusters, the Hammond residents who have voluntarily cleaned up the forest preserve in their neighborhood over the last 5 years are now locked out.
Their cleanup efforts has drawn nature lovers to the forest preserve, Briar East Woods, 32 acres of wooded sand hills that meander between 169th Street and Parrish Avenue and 173rd Street and Grand Avenue.
Regular maintenance of the walking trails within the woods has boosted the site’s popularity as a place of recreation for Hammond residents.
The city’s plan to construct the Governors Parkway Rail Bridge through a portion of the woods sparked the ‘Save Briar East Woods’ campaign.
This is a valuable ecological system that needs to be preserved, the Dune Dusters say. It has rare trees and plants, and it is a habitat for wildlife.
According to the Save Briar East Woods website, “Each year, it provides billions of gallons in flooding protection to the Hessville neighborhood and city of Hammond at large.”
Anne Sedlacek, a member of the group said they saw workers erecting a fence along a portion of Briar East Woods on Tuesday, March 11.
Two days later, Hammond Mayor Tom McDermott issued a news release about the fencing.
The new boundary fence around Briar East Woods along Parrish Avenue.
“The city needs to begin preparations for the Governors Parkway project. By fencing this area off, we are making sure that the trespassing, illegal motorized vehicle use, illegal drug and alcohol use, and illegal dumping that has been occurring in this area is minimized,” said Mayor McDermott, Jr.
Sedlacek said the boundary fence will prevent residents from utilizing the trails as well as from clearing litter and trash on the parcel that can also injure or kill wildlife. A Hessville Dune Dusters clean-up at the site scheduled for March 22 is now halted due to restricted access.
“Since 2020, the Hessville Dune Dusters has hosted regular stewardship events at Briar East Woods to clear litter and dumped trash from the parcel. Volunteers have removed at least 300 bags of garbage from the woodland, in addition to larger items like tires and discarded furniture. There have been no crimes reported in Briar East Woods,” Sedlacek said.
“Today we began the first phase of the project that will restrict access to the area from Parrish Avenue just south of 169th Street. The remaining fence work will be completed in about a month. We encourage residents to enjoy nearby 179-acre Gibson Woods Nature Preserve to avoid the construction in this area as the project gets underway,” Mayor McDermott said.
Hammond is waiting on final approval of the project from the Federal Highway Administration and the Indiana Department of Transportation.
Anne Sedlacek with bags of trash cleared from Briar East Woods on March 24, 2024
Story Posted:03/17/2025
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