By SHAWNDRA MILLER / Communications director, Central Indiana Land Trust
In Montgomery County, the Central Indiana Land Trust recently assisted the Indiana Department of Natural Resources’s Division of Nature Preserves expand Spring Creek Seeps Nature Preserve. A 30-acre tract adjoining the preserve is now protected in perpetuity.
Groundwater seeps such as the one found in this preserve are very sensitive. They provide important habitat for many rare and endangered species not found in other parts of the Hoosier state.
An inventory of the addition turned up a surprising find: a small but scrappy remnant of the Ice Age. Taxus canadensis (Canada yew) is a state-endangered plant. Habitat loss and fragmentation have fractured its range. Favoring steep slopes and bluffs over streams and rivers, the plant also appears in bogs and swamps.
The DNR’s Heritage database logs just a handful of occurrences in Indiana. Spring Creek Seeps Addition features one lone individual of the species on a bluff over Sugar Creek. It grows just a mile or two from a now-lost population, which was recorded in 1932 by eminent botanist Charles Deam.
The generosity of Land Trust members is protecting this fascinating piece of Indiana’s natural heritage.
Though this preserve is not open to the public due to its sensitivity, the Land Trust encourages everyone to visit its publicly accessible properties.
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.
