Indiana permanently protects 4,000 acres with new southern Indiana fish and wildlife area

Nature has reclaimed an old coal mine in southern Indiana, and state environmentalists have collaborated to ensure the land will belong to all Hoosiers.

Indiana’s Department of Natural Resources, working with the Southern Indiana Sentinel Landscape initiative and The Conservation Fund, have acquired nearly 4,000 acres of diverse habitat that will become the Busseron Creek Fish and Wildlife Area in Sullivan County.

“I am really excited to have this property and can’t wait to see how it turns out,” said Dan Eckstein, the southwest public lands supervisor with DNR’s Division of Fish and Wildlife.

The newly acquired state land has an interesting variety of landscapes, Eckstein said. There is quite a large area of bottomland forest and marshlands year round. The site also boasts grasslands, dry forests and upland areas — just about every habitat southern Indiana has to offer.

Continued with pictures at: https://www.indystar.com/story/news/environment/2024/12/20/indianas-newest-public-land-purchase-spans-4000-acres/77091172007/