The Sycamore Land Trust announced the development of two new wetlands in Monroe Co.
The properties are located on land connected to the more than 800-acre Beanblossom Bottoms Nature Preserve. One of them is on 61 acres donated by Bill and Kathleen Oliver last summer. And the other wetland sits on the 644-acre Sam Shine Foundation Preserve.
This adds to 60 acres of wetland constructed by the nature conservancy nonprofit along Beanblossom Creek at the Sam Shine Foundation Preserve in 2023.
Wetlands are areas with a heavy concentration of water, like marshes or bogs. They are habitat for fish and water fowl, according to the National Parks Service. These areas also help “blunt the force” during major storms by absorbing water runoff. The vegetation in these areas prevents soil erosion.
Before settlement, according to the Indiana Department of Environmental Management, about a quarter of the state was wetlands. But by the 1980s, it had lost about 85 percent of its wetland habitat.
A quantitative study of its wetlands has not been done since.
Sycamore oversees the preservation of more than 11,000 acres of forests, wetlands, and wildflower meadows on 146 protected properties in southern Indiana.