The purpose of this petition is to let the Mayor of Hammond Indiana, Tom McDermott Jr. and the Common Council know that we want to keep the Briar East Dune Woodlands intact and free from developments. We ask the Mayor, The City of Hammond Common Council and the Planning Commission to devise an alternate more pragmatic route for the train crossing that does not entail leveling the dune woodlands and addresses additional significant issues the current plan does not. We ask the city to formally make our dune woodland a park preserved in perpetuity for residents now and for future generations. 

The Dune Woodlands have been authenticated as the last unprotected remnant of the High Tolleston Shoreline Dunes. It has thousands of native trees destined to be wiped out and dunes thousands of years old bulldozed. The dunes were formed when Lake Michigan was much higher 4700 years ago. They have numerous inhabitants such as Nesting Red Tailed Hawks and Barred Owls. Thousands of migrating birds rely on these woods for their journeys. Please help!