Southern Indiana Business Report
PAOLI – The Central Indiana Land Trust Inc. has purchased 80 acres in Orange County that will eventually be added to the Hoosier National Forest. The property, known as the Lowe tract, was purchased at auction last month from private owners for $541,000.
“This was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to protect an inholding in a national forest. If CILTI wasn’t able to help, the land would likely be developed,” said Cliff Chapman, the land trust’s president.
An inholding is privately owned land that lies inside the boundary of a national park, national forest, state park, or similar protected area.
Andrew Stokely, a CILTI board member who attended the auction, added, “The two individuals CILTI was bidding against had plans to put a housing development on the property. One of them said, ‘I envision 50 mailboxes at the end of this drive.’”
While CILTI does not oppose development, per se, it seeks to protect the state’s best natural areas and buffer them when possible.
Because the purchased land is an inholding of the Hoosier National Forest, CILTI and its partners plan to sell it to the federal government to be added to the Hoosier National Forest’s 204,000 acres in south-central Indiana. Managed by the U.S. Forest Service, the Hoosier National Forest spans nine Indiana counties (Brown, Crawford, Dubois, Jackson, Lawrence, Martin, Monroe, Orange and Perry).
A unique resource for a private nonprofit organization, CILTI’s Evergreen Fund for Nature, made the auction purchase possible. Donors contribute to the fund so the land trust has access to ready capital, which allows it to move quickly when desirable land is for sale.
“This is a perfect example of why we established the Evergreen Fund for Nature and why our donors like contributing to it,” said Chapman. “Without that fund, we likely wouldn’t have been able to put a deal together fast enough to buy the land and ensure the state wouldn’t end up with a housing development in the middle of a national forest.”
Purchase of the site will close a gap in the larger forested landscape, benefiting wildlife that require deep forest habitat to thrive. Its distinctive geological features include a sandstone arch and two pit caves. One of the caves, Hopper Pit, was discovered in 1804 along the Base Line of the United States by surveyors of the General Land Office, giving the site historical significance.
A unique landscape known as a sandstone barrens sits just south of the sandstone arch. Dominated by little bluestem, the barrens also contain the rare silver plumegrass, supporting a plant community that’s extremely rare in Indiana. The tract’s agricultural fields offer an opportunity for reforestation to close a canopy gap in the Hoosier National Forest.
Hoosier National Forest Supervisor Mike Chaveas said, “The Lowe tract contains some unique natural features and habitats, and I’m pleased that CILTI was able to acquire it. I look forward to continuing our partnership as we pursue the potential transfer of the parcel to federal ownership to become a valued addition to the Hoosier National Forest.”
“It’s a thrill to be able to partner on such a geologically and ecologically significant project,” added Chapman. “This will help to get more canopy cover in Indiana for the species that depend on it.”
The Sam Shine Foundation and donors to the Evergreen Fund for Nature helped to make the purchase possible.
About the Central Indiana Land Trust
The Central Indiana Land Trust (CILTI) preserves the best of Central Indiana’s natural areas, protecting plants and animals, so Hoosiers can experience the wonder of the state’s natural heritage. Since it was created in 1990, CILTI has protected more than 8,000 acres of land that meet science-based criteria for conservation value. More information at www.ConservingIndiana.org.