A 27-acre addition to Fern Cliff Nature Preserve will bring more Madison Township land under the protection of the Central Indiana Land Trust and leave the property separate from the 570-acre Fern Station Nature Preserve by just one forested property. Courtesy CILTI
A new addition to Fern Cliff Nature Preserve will bring 27 additional acres of Madison Township land under the protection of the Central Indiana Land Trust Inc. (CILTI).
The organization announced Wednesday the acquisition of the Fern Cliff Addition, a 27-acre addition to the existing 157-acre Fern Cliff Nature Preserve.
With the addition to the north, Fern Cliff is now separated from the 570-acre Fern Station Nature Preserve by only one forested property. CILTI has met with the owner of that property to express interest in conservation.
For now, more than 750 acres of property in the area are in the care of the Land Trust.
“We are delighted to be able to expand and connect these incredible Putnam County properties,” CILTI President and CEO Cliff Chapman said. “This will allow us to turn back some of the habitat fragmentation that has occurred over time and create space for wood thrush and other declining species to thrive.”
The new addition is not currently forested, but the release from CILTI noted its intentions “to plant thousands of trees that will scrub carbon from the air and benefit forest-dwelling species.”
The land purhase was made possible by the Indiana Department of Natural Resources, The Nature Conservancy and donors to the Evergreen Fund for Nature.
In addition to their natural attributes, the Fern Cliff and Fern Station properties have unique connections to America’s cultural history: The sand responsible for the patented green color of the original Coca-Cola bottles was mined there.
The Terre Haute-based Root Glass Co. purchased the land in the early 1900s to use the sandstone for making bottles for Coca-Cola, which was looking for a way to stand out from the many soft drinks crowding the market. Minerals present in the sand mined from the site resulted in the glass’s green color, which was patented along with the iconic coke bottle shape in 1915.
At one time, the Root Glass Co.’s Putnam County quarry produced about 20,000 tons of sandstone a year.
The announcement of the addition to Fern Cliff comes six months after the acquisition of Fern Station, which CILTI, with help from various partners, purchased for $4.125 million.
The Central Indiana Land Trust preserves the best of Central Indiana’s natural areas, protecting plants and animals, so Hoosiers can experience the wonder of the state’s natural heritage. Since it was created in 1990, CILTI has protected more than 7,600 acres of land that meet science-based criteria for conservation value. More information at www.ConservingIndiana.org.
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