Central Indiana Land Trust buys, protects 80 acres in Brown County
Subscriber Benefit
As a subscriber you can listen to articles at work, in the car, or while you work out. Subscribe Now
Seeking to preserve the habitats of turtles, bats and some species of birds, Central Indiana Land Trust Inc. has announced the purchase of 80 acres of land in Brown County for conservation.
The land sits in the northern part of the county near the border with Johnson County in an area the land trust has dubbed the Hills of Gold Conservation Area.
The land trust says it bought the parcel from a timber company for $625,000 and plans to keep the area “in a natural state in perpetuity.”
“Hills of Gold is one of the state’s most biodiverse forested areas, so we were excited when this property came on the market,” Cliff Chapman, president and CEO of CILTI, said in a press release. “Whenever we can expand the protected acreage of forest interior habitat, we exponentially increase the long-term viability of native plants and wildlife that rely on deep forest to thrive.”
The release says the land being connected to other conservation areas adds a multiplier effect to the deep forest habitat and allows for the white oak, black oak, shagbark hickory and pine trees in the area to thrive.
The land also features the striped wintergreen plant and the red-shouldered hawk, both species are considered “vulnerable” in Indiana.
The CILTI says the area will not be accessible to the public. Since 1990, the Land Trust of Central Indiana says it has purchased over 8,000 acres for preservation.