Fern Station Nature Preserve donations can be doubled thanks to new grant

Monday, March 20, 2023

The Central Indiana Land Trust Inc. (CILTI) has received a matching challenge grant from the Efroymson Family Fund in support of fundraising to purchase and protect Fern Station Nature Preserve, an environmentally-rich, 570-acre site just west of Greencastle.

The Efroymson Family Fund will match every financial gift CILTI receives for Fern Station up to $500,000.

CILTI has been talking to the owner of the property for 15 years, attracted to the site’s large swath of unbroken forestland and rich mix of flora and fauna. It sits virtually undisturbed now, with only a single gravel road cutting through it. But, unable to find a buyer, the landowner had been considering dividing the land into parcels for sale. Without CILTI’s plan to purchase the land, it likely would have been sold in pieces, making preservation unlikely.

CILTI has raised 94 percent of the funds needed to buy the land and protect it forever. In 2022, CILTI received $3.1 million toward the project from Indiana’s Next Level Conservation Trust, representing 75 percent of the purchase price.

Because Fern Station sits near another protected property – Fern Cliff Nature Preserve – its preservation increases the critical mass of protected land in the area. A classic example of Indiana forestland, Fern Station is dominated by white oak, beech and hickory trees and features lushly wooded ravines that support a wide variety of ferns.

It is also home to a number of rare and endangered species, including cerulean, worm-eating and hooded warblers, broad-winged hawks and eastern box turtles.

In addition to supporting such important wildlife and plant species, this property also provides an exciting opportunity for outdoor recreation in Putnam County.

“Fern Station is going to be one of the most biodiverse places in the state because of how large and undisturbed it is,” CILTI Executive Director Cliff Chapman said. “We’re eager to complete the fundraising stage of the project so we can start on a protection plan and trail building. We’re so grateful to the State of Indiana, the Efroymson Family Fund and many other donors for contributing to the project.”

For more information visit: www.fernstation.org.

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