By Shawndra Miller / communications director, Central Indiana Land Trust
In June of 2020, Stephanie Paine Crossin, land protection director for the Central Indiana Land Trust, contacted a state government official about a key piece of land. While the pandemic, protests and partisanship dominated the news cycle, Stephanie was still hard at work trying to protect nature.
While much of daily life ground to a halt that spring, the Land Trust’s conservation work hadn’t stopped. The stewardship crew had planted some 10,000 trees in a 19-acre farm field bisecting Betley Woods at Glacier’s End. More than 90 donors had helped to protect White River Bluffs forever.
And a state-owned property next to State Road 46 had been set aside to be sold.
The roughly 2.6-acre site lay above Clifty Creek in Bartholomew County. There, the limestone cliff had broken and rolled down the bluff like tumbling dice. That gave it the name Broken Cliff – and also created perfect habitat for a species that is vanishingly rare.
Spreading rock cress (Arabis patens) covered the honeycomb surface of that broken limestone. The plant is listed as globally rare, critically imperiled, and endangered in Indiana. That made this tiny place a high priority for conservation.
If the land were put up for public auction, the rare plant community could easily be lost – especially since the creekside location made it an attractive recreational site.
Stephanie swung into action, emailing an Indiana Department of Transportation official:
“I am writing to formally notify the Indiana Department of Transportation that Central Indiana Land Trust is interested in working to acquire the attached site owned by INDOT. This site has an estimated 5,000 to 10,000 examples of the state-endangered Arabis patens or spreading rock cress. Our organization wants to protect and manage this site in perpetuity for the benefit of this rare plant.”
It would take half a decade to see the project to fruition. Numerous state statutes and agency policies, coupled with social distancing and other pandemic-related issues, slowed the progress.
As the Land Trust inched toward purchasing the land, a key ally emerged in Ken Hasselkus. Ken – who had worked in the Indiana Department of Natural Resource’s Land Acquisition Division when Stephanie reached out about the property – now worked for INDOT. His support from within the agency proved pivotal.
Ken recalls, “It seemed to me that the key to getting the project moving was to educate people about the importance of protecting the plant population, so we arranged a visit to the property. Folks from DNR, INDOT, and CILTI met at the site, and we found the Arabis patens plants to be in bloom, which I understand is not often seen.”
Ken kept advocating behind the scenes for selling the property to the Land Trust. It took creativity and tenacity to jump through all the hoops, but finally, by fall of 2024, INDOT officially offered Broken Cliff to the Central Indiana Land Trust. Recently, the property deed was signed over, ensuring this special place’s forever-protection.
Broken Cliff may be small in acreage, but it represents a huge victory for conservation, with a whole team of people behind it. That team includes conservation partners such as Ken, who are willing to go the extra mile.
For his part, Ken is modest about his contribution, saying, “I really credit Stephanie for making this happen. She never gave up and stayed with it until we got it done.”
Headquartered in the Old Northside, Central Indiana Land Trust partners with conservation organizations statewide to preserve the best of Indiana’s natural areas, protecting plants and animals, so Hoosiers can experience the wonder of the state’s natural heritage. Find hiking destinations at conservingindiana.org.
