an illustrated knowledgebase helping connect local folks & local nature in Delaware County, IN
(LEARN)
NATURE HISTORY IN INDIANA
A brief timeline of conservation events.
early 1800s
The Lenape were the indigenous peoples (Native Americans) who lived in our area before colonialism forced them West. Their homes (wigwams) were located where present-day Morrow's Meadows (Yorktown) & Minnetrista/Delaware County Fairgrounds (Muncie). Other tribes in Indiana during this time period include Adena, Hopewell, Potawatomi, Miami, & Delaware.
1816
Indiana gains statehood; settlers flood territory after War of 1812
1830
American Bison gone from Indiana -- extirpated
1832
Timber Wolf gone from Indiana -- extirpated
1837
Indiana's first state geologist is David Dale Owen
1850
Black Bear gone from Indiana -- extirpated
1857
introduction of closed season on:
deer, wild turkey, quail, pheasant, prairie chicken
1872
**America's (first?) national park established -- Yellowstone National Park
1886
US Fish and Wildlife Service founded (get date)
1889
first conservation officers created when county road supervisors given authority to enforce fish & game laws
late 1800s
deforestation of Indiana in the name of agriculture decimates native forest from 23 million acres to less than 2 million acres. Soil erosion, river and stream pollution, wildfires, and draining of natural wetlands alarming
1901
Indiana Board of Forestry created
State Forester position created
1906
Antiquities Act signed by Teddy Roosevelt. Protects archeological sites on public lands as important public resources. Gives the President authority to protect landmarks, structures, and objects of historic or scientific interest by designating them as national monuments.
1909
Charles C Deam was appointed Secretary of the State Board of Forestry. He introduced a tax credit to encourage farmers to return marginal farm ground to forest. He published several books including The Trees of Indiana and Flora of Indiana
Gene Stratton-Porter published A Girl of the Limberlost. Porter photographed birds and animals in the Limberlost Swamp where she grew up (profits went to conserve Limberlost Swamp).
1916
McCormick’s Creek established as Indiana’s first state park
Turkey Run protected as a state park
1919
Indiana Department of Conservation is created – Col. Richard Lieber named director
1937
Federal Aid in Wildlife Restoration (Pittman-Robertson Act) provides funding from a tax on firearms and ammunition to support habitat improvement for fish and wildlife management.
1952
Save the Dunes Council – for over a decade people struggled to keep the Dunes from disappearing beneath development. Save the Dunes was created to protect the dunes through a national park, which succeeded in 1966 when the Dunes became a national lakeshore, and in 2018 when it became a national park including over 13 miles of shoreline and 15,000 acres.
& The Nature Conservancy opens an Indiana Chapter
1960
Acres Land Trust Incorporated in northeast Indiana
1965
Department of Natural Resources is created
1967
Nature Preserves Act passed by the Indiana Assembly, charged with the acquisition, dedication, management and protection of significant natural areas throughout the state.
1970
first Earth Day established;
Environmental Protection Agency created (Nixon);
Clean Air Act
1972
Clean Water Act
1973
federal Endangered Species Act
1985
Indiana Nongame and endangered wildlife program reintroduces bald eagles to Indiana.
1992
Indiana Heritage Trust License Plate Program – raising funds to protect over 60,000 acres of natural areas.
2009
Indiana Invasive Species Council established
2010
Healthy Rivers Initiative – focusing on watersheds in Indiana
2012
Bicentennial Nature Trust
2018
The Indiana Heritage Trust and The Bicentennial Nature Trust are rolled together into the Benjamin Harrison Trust.
YEAR
text
text
YEAR
text
text
YEAR
text
text
YEAR
text
text