Indiana Nature Preserves program hits 50-year mark

Thursday, June 1, 2017

The annual arrival of spring means prime time to visit Indiana’s nature preserves -- including four in Putnam County.

But this season is special. Fifty years ago, in 1967, the Indiana Legislature passed the Nature Preserves Act, which made the protection of such properties possible.

“The act created a structure for protecting the most widely and evenly distributed system of state-significant public properties in Indiana,” said John Bacone, director of the DNR Division of Nature Preserves, which was created by the act to manage the program.

Starting with the dedication of Pine Hills Nature Preserve in Montgomery County in 1969, there are now dedicated nature preserves in 70 of Indiana’s 92 counties. Those 277 preserves protect a combined 52,182 acres.

Putnam County’s four nature preserves -- Big Walnut, Fern Cliff, Hall Woods and Hemlock Ridge -- total a collective 528 acres overall.

Indiana’s protected land includes at least one example of almost every type of the 61 natural communities found in the state at the time of its settlement. Some of the natural community types include old-growth forests (Shrader-Weaver Nature Preserve), geologic features (Portland Arch NP), sand savannas (Hoosier Prairie NP), dunes (Dunes Nature Preserve), prairies (Smith Cemetery NP) and lakes (Olin Lake NP).

The system also protects large landscapes such as the glacial morainal complex at Moraine NP, kettle lakes (at Spicer Lake NP), karst features (at Mitchell Sinkhole Plain), and many others.

“There are many types of state protection for land in Indiana, but a dedicated nature preserve has the highest level,” Bacone said. “It is intended to remain in its natural ecological condition in perpetuity

Such nature preserves are owned by 45 different entities, including the DNR divisions of Nature Preserves, Forestry, State Parks and Fish & Wildlife, as well as land trusts, city and county park departments, and colleges and universities.

“During 2017, and in the years to come, I hope you will visit as many of these special places as possible, and enjoy these remnants of the ‘original Indiana,’” Bacone said.

The four Putnam County nature preserves are:

--- Big Walnut Nature Preserve Tall Timbers Trail Unit, 245 acres.

Ownership: IDNR and The Nature Conservancy.

North and east of North Putnam High School, Tall Timbers Trail is a 1.9-mile hike through some of the Big Walnut Preserve’s most impressive woodlands. Dramatic ravines, several types of high-quality forests with towering hardwoods, and the potential for uncommon and beautiful wildflowers such as the Indian cucumber root, the guyandotte beauty, showy orchis and blue cohosh.

A registered National Natural Landmark, Big Walnut has been identified as among the best-quality stream segments in Indiana. Portions also contain fine stands of old-growth trees.

-- Fern Cliff Nature Preserve, 150 acres.

Ownership: The Nature Conservancy.

Go four miles west of Greencastle on West Walnut Street Road, and after crossing Big Walnut Creek, take the first road south and follow the meandering road under the railroad overpass and along Big Walnut Creek bearing left at the next three intersections. Immediately after crossing Snake Creek, turn right and go a mile to the entrance. The most noteworthy feature of the property is its large diversity of bryophytes (mosses and liverworts). This preserve is a registered National Natural Landmark.

-- Hall Woods Nature Preserve (Oscar and Ruth Hall), 94 acres.

Ownership: Nature Preserves - IDNR.

A little more than a half-mile east of Bainbridge and within the Big Walnut Natural Area, it is predominantly a mesic upland forest with lowland or floodplain forest occasionally interspersed along the many ravines. A noteworthy feature in the mesic upland forest is a high frequency of large white oak. There is also a thick understory in which many specimens of sassafras, dogwood, beech and spicebush can be observed.

-- Hemlock Ridge Nature Preserve, 39 acres.

Ownership: Central Indiana Land Trust.●

Located 5.5 miles northeast of Bainbridge in the northeast corner of Putnam County, Hemlock Ridge contains high-quality examples of mesic floodplain, upland and ravine forest communities. Its stand of eastern hemlock is extremely rare as the conifer is more commonly found much farther north. Big Walnut Creek, one of Indiana’s most natural rivers, forms the northern boundary of the preserve.

For more information on Indiana’s nature preserves, including a map of all of them, see naturepreserves.dnr.IN.gov.

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