By Dave Cooper
Andy Mahler, of Paoli, Indiana, longtime leader of the regional grassroots forest protection group Heartwood, passed away August 30, 2025, peacefully at his beautiful home place in the woods called the Lazy Black Bear, surrounded by friends and his wife, Linda Lee. He was 74.
Andy was a passionate defender of the forests, an organizer, a leader, a visionary, an ally to many organizations, and an inspiration to many. He was a strong guy, in great physical shape and very handsome. An outstanding speaker – the word “eloquent” seems woefully inadequate to describe his speaking style.
Here is Andy in a recorded interview with the Indiana Forest Alliance, talking about his efforts to oppose the US Forest Service’s logging proposal for an area the Forest Service called Buffalo Springs: “…they gave us a gift, in that the initials for Buffalo Springs are BS, and BS is exactly what this proposal is. The Forest Service claims to be doing all this logging for all sorts of high-minded and beneficial purposes, but the ultimate reason … if you scrape away all this BS is that the Forest Service gets to keep all of the money that they receive when they sell the timber… from when they are cutting the trees that the American people are paying them to protect.
“The Forest Service in the last century was considered the most widely-respected and highly- regarded federal agency – those days of course are long gone … [in their previous days] the three things they did were to protect water quality, planting trees on abandoned, heavily-eroded farms – which is what most of the land in the national forest system is in the eastern United States … the Hoosier National Forest was established in 1951 on these heavily degraded lands, and the land has been healing itself since that time … they prevented timber theft and they put our forest fires … it’s interesting to compare what they did then: instead of planting pines to protect highly-erodible sites, they’re now proposing to clearcut the pines on those same highly-erodible sites, and to therefore degrade the land and re-endanger the water supplies.”
Whew. Andy was a very knowledgeable guy; I stood in awe of him and was frankly a little intimidated by him. The Heartwood Forest Councils – usually led by Andy and held every Memorial Day weekend – were some of the most formative events of my life.
He helped start the local farmers’ market and the Lost River Co-op in Paoli, and he was a long-haul activist. Andy founded Protect Our Woods in 1985, after learning about a massive Forest Service proposal to open the Hoosier National Forest to clearcutting, oil and gas development, road building and ATV use. That plan was withdrawn in 1991. Heartwood was then founded in 1991 as a regional forest protection group and eventually grew to include groups from Massachusetts to Missouri and as far south as Mississippi.
Heartwood won, over and over. Heartwood successfully stopped logging proposals in the Wayne National Forest, the Daniel Boone, the Allegheny, and many more, primarily using a litigation strategy – never a well-funded group, but smart and strategic.
Andy said, “Heartwood has been remarkably successful,” and I agree. Heartwood is still fighting logging, strip mining, burning, herbicide spraying, and other forest abuses, and the campaign to stop the Buffalo Springs logging proposal is on the brink of victory; they have even won the support of Indiana Governor Mike Braun!
Andy’s friends and allies remember him:
“Andy Mahler was one of the most significant people in my life, and it’s hard to imagine the world without him… Andy was one of the first people who taught me what it meant to stand up for the forest and the wild beings that did not have a voice, and also how to do it. He helped me find my tribe and the people that inspired me to see the good that humans were capable of. He planted an acorn in me that grew into an oak tree of activism for life. And wherever I branched out, the spirit of Heartwood was always the trunk. Radical, smart, passionate, fearless, generous, joyful, creative love and community resistance to the careless destruction of Mother Earth and ourselves,” shared Joshua Martin, Senior Corporate Campaigner, Canopy Planet.
“He taught me we’re not alone… Just like Andy, I know that the forest is always with me and now I can no longer be separated from the forest and Andy,” shared Steven Stewart, Protect Our Woods
“Andy was super talented. He focused his talent on bringing people together and educating them on how important nature is, and how forests contribute to our lives and wellbeing. He supported our legal efforts [in Missouri] and many times made trips to Illinois, Ohio, Kentucky, Missouri, DC and on and on to support movements in those states … we probably had some disagreements over the years, but I don’t remember ever having a cross word with him,” shared Mark Donham, forest advocate and musician, Missouri.
“I will carry Andy with me the rest of my life and will look to his spirit for courage and inspiration. He certainly carried around some powerful electrons in that body of his! I’m certain some jumped off him and onto me. Thank you Andy,” shared John Wallace, Founder, Shawnee Forest Defense and advocate for the Shawnee National Forest and Climate Preserve, Illinois.
“Andy is truly one of the biggest inspirations in my life. In a world that feels so full of divisiveness, bigotry, hatred and greed Andy was, and continues to be a light in the dark who radiated a love of all living things. Thank you Andy for being the best humanity has to offer,” shared Neil Goswami. [OM1]
A celebration of Andy’s life is being planned at the Lost River Café in downtown Paoli, Indiana on Oct. 26.
In Andy’s memory, please make a generous donation to one of the following organizations:
Protect Our Woods – https://savehoosiernationalforest.org/
Heartwood – www.heartwood.org
Indiana Forest Alliance – https://indianaforestalliance.org