Northwest Indiana is one of the world’s most diverse landscapes. Geology, biology, and climate all interact here to create a wide array of habitats, each with a distinct mix of native plants and animals. Shirley Heinze Land Trust protects properties representing the entire spectrum of natural communities in our area – tallgrass prairie, oak savanna, sand dunes, woodlands, and wetlands of many types. Preserving this natural heritage requires our engagement in the natural processes that maintain a high level of biodiversity.

After SHLT identifies and acquires a remnant natural area, we begin the work of nursing it back to health. We formulate a management plan tailored to the specific conditions at each of our nature preserves. Our aim is to sustain biological resources and neutralize those aspects of our modern landscape that compromise the health of natural habitats. We address issues such as habitat fragmentation, fire suppression, and invasive species, among many others.

Restoration is an ongoing process that slowly transitions into mere ecological maintenance. This transition happens at different rates and with different results, if at all, due to the constraints present at a particular site. The overall vision is to improve the function and sustainability of a natural area, making it less dependent on direct human intervention to maintain it.

The stewardship program continues to grow, as new funding sources, partnerships, and advanced techniques and equipment come into play. Approximately $200,000 from the Great Lakes Restoration Initiative and Sustain Our Great Lakes Programs have been acquired in recent years, leading to the restoration of about 220 acres in the past two years. The staff plays an integral role in innovative new programs, like the Green Jobs Project that provided training for laid-off steel workers and training/internship programs for college students.

On sites that have been degraded and have lost their original plant diversity, we sow seed and plant plugs of native species to increase diversity and to provide habitat for wildlife. Insects, such as flies, moths and butterflies, bees and wasps, and beetles help many plants reproduce by spreading pollen in exchange for the nectar they harvest as food. Ants play an important role in seed dispersal, carrying seeds of some plants long distances from the parent plant. Birds and mammals eat plants and insects, and the web continues from there.

In our modern landscape, natural areas can be separated by roads, utility corridors, agricultural land, and residential neighborhoods - all potential barriers to the movement of animals… and plants. Native plants in any of these settings can provide safe passage between areas of more “natural” habitat for those important pollinators and seed dispersers, giving the “web of life” a “web” of habitat to live in. Planting native plants in your own garden can make a real difference.

Invasive species, which are often non-native and therefore removed from their natural enemies, can have a huge effect on their new surroundings. In our area, there are several plants that threaten the health of our ecosystems by dominating the plant community and thus reducing biodiversity. Some simply out-compete their neighbors for light, water, and nutrients. Some actively attack other plants and prevent them from growing by releasing chemicals into the soil.

To control these undesired species, we carefully evaluate the threat they actually pose to biodiversity on a given site and determine the most appropriate measures to protect that biodiversity. This sometimes involves doing nothing to a particular population of an invasive plant in a particular location. In other cases, however, we may choose to prevent the spread of, and eventually eliminate, an infestation of a particular weed by cutting it, pulling it, or applying herbicide to it.

Herbicide treatments are made at times when the plant is most vulnerable; this allows us to minimize the amount of herbicide used while maximizing our success. When selecting a herbicide, we consider several factors, including its effectiveness on the weed in question, the location of the weed to be controlled, and the characteristics of the herbicide itself, such as the rate at which it breaks down or its potential to leach through the soil.

We use controlled burns as a tool to promote healthy habitats in natural communities such as prairies, savannas and woodlands, where plants and animals require sunny, open areas in which to grow, feed, and breed. These periodic fires remove accumulations of dead vegetation and control the growth of excess trees and shrubs.

Controlled burns are carefully planned and executed to ensure the safety of the public and protect neighboring areas. Wind speed, wind direction, temperature, and relative humidity are all considered in a burn prescription that sets acceptable limits for fire and smoke intensity and behavior.

By 1900, habitat destruction and unregulated hunting had completely eliminated the deer from Indiana. Its natural predators, such as wolves and mountain lions, were also extirpated from the state. So when whitetail deer were reintroduced to Indiana in the 1930’s and 1940’s, the population steadily increased. Regulated hunting began in the 1950’s and had stabilized the population size statewide, but in areas with less hunting pressure, the deer population continued to grow.

Today, the overabundance of deer in our area is having a significant impact on the plant community on which all animals depend. Intense browsing by deer can significantly reduce the diversity of plants found on a site, sometimes virtually eliminating many herbaceous plants that used to be found there. With the deer population out of balance with the rest of the ecosystem, many land preservation entities – including Shirley Heinze Land Trust – have established deer population management techniques, including carefully controlled hunting at some properties.