President's Column - Ralph Jersild
Natural Area Protected
Organizational Participation - Ted Harris
The Indianapolis Renaissance and Natural Areas - T. O. Swinford
As I write this piece, the ground lies covered by a thick layer of newly fallen snow resulting from one of our state's infamous "tourney-time" March snowstorms. The early morning territorial callings of the cardinals and titmice, however, announce that Spring is not far away. Even a couple of the fox squirrels that usually play "king-of-the-hill" around our backyard bird feeders are getting chummy. For us, thoughts are stirring once again of witnessing the reawakening of nature's bounty and beauty. A chance to renew our acquaintance with the forces of creation, the generation of new life, and the commitment of living organisms to sustaining their kind.
Hidden among the reproductive burst that warm weather brings is a struggle for survival for many species in our growing and congested communities. Next to habitat degradation and fragmentation, invasion by alien plants and animals ranks second on the list of threats to our native wild species, either through their intentional introduction or by accidental entry into the community. Bush honeysuckle and garlic mustard are heralded as two particularly troublesome plant species in central Indiana, where they -- as do many other exotics -- become invasive and over time crowd out native species due to a lack of local biological or environmental controls on their viability. Although sale and distribution of invasive exotic plants are now largely prohibited in Indiana, some have been sold at local nurseries and garden shops as attractive landscape items over the years. Back when my family moved to Indianapolis in the early 1960's for instance, various honeysuckle varieties were highlighted as preferred plantings for urban home site beautification. These plantings have now spread throughout our cities, encroaching on inner-urban natural areas where their proliferation leads to the exclusion of valued native species. Their presence is currently extending into more rural parts of the state.
Part of CILTI's land acquisition and stewardship responsibilities involves monitoring and controlling the presence of both bush honeysuckle and garlic mustard. Some land, for example, may not be accepted for preservation if the natural features have been completely destroyed beyond recovery by these exotics. More often, CILTI depends on volunteer stewards and workday participants to assist in the constant need for their control on our acquired properties.
Unfortunately, resurgence of both these species begins again along with those native wildflowers and shrubs we eagerly anticipate with the renewed breath of spring. Your help is needed. Please respond to our calls for workday project volunteers. You can make a difference.On an unusually warm afternoon in December, two members of CILTI's Land Committee visited a beautiful woods of approximately 10 acres north of 126th St. between Old Meridian St. and Guilford Rd. in Hamilton County. We were the guests of Gordon Hopp, science teacher at Carmel Junior High School and the director responsible for the woods. The woods is part of the land parcel obtained by the Carmel Jr. High and College Wood Elementary Schools which are now located immediately to the east. It's name, Odom Woods, is in memory of Dr. Marvin Odom, one time director of curriculum for the schools and whose influence resulted in the schools' preservation of the woods as an environmental teaching laboratory for their elementary and junior high students.
This mixed mesophytic woods can easily be appreciated from the large Meier store complex between it and Meridian Street to the west. It contains numerous spring wildflowers and a stand of mature trees, including maple, oak, hickory and beech. Carmel Schools has future plans to include it in an organized environmental science program, preserving this wood and in advancing the education of its students on the benefits of natural areas in the enhancement of the quality of life in our communities.
(This is the last of a four-part series describing ways that CILTI members can help the organization achieve its goals.)
As with other 501(c)(3) organizations, CILTI's continuing status as a non-profit public charity is enhanced by attracting and maintaining a large membership and by obtaining broad-based financial support. Your membership at any level helps us accomplish these.
At the same time, we are an all-volunteer group. We are totally dependent on our members for leadership through Board participation and for accomplishing a wide range of tasks that support CILTI's mission.
Included among the "indoor" tasks are legal, accounting, management, membership records, newsletter articles and production, artwork, website maintenance, fundraising and grant writing, outreach presentations, media contacts, mail preparation, meeting minutes, annual meeting planning and refreshments, general research and communications.
"Outdoor" tasks include monitoring properties, workday planning and participation, biological inventories, boundary surveys, trail maintenance, sign making and posting, photography, land owner contacts, searching for areas to protect and evaluating these areas.
As a potential volunteer, you may ask, "How can I help?" The answer is "Do what you do best." Successful participation involves applying skills in ways that are both useful to the organization and personally satisfying for you.
Are native plants, animals and natural areas important to you? Do you want the satisfaction of working to protect them? If so, think about the things you do well. If any of these things match one of CILTI's needs, consider becoming a volunteer.
A great way to investigate volunteering without making a commitment is to attend one of our monthly meetings. We have either a full Board meeting or an Executive Committee meeting every month. All of these meetings are open for any member to attend. You can come and share ideas with us or simply sit and listen. The meetings usually last one and a half to two hours and have normally been held on the first Tuesday or the first Thursday of each month. Our timing and location are currently in the process of changing, so it would be smart to verify the time and place with any board member or else leave a question on CILTI's voice mail at (317) 921-5528. Thanks!
No matter what your political viewpoint or your socioeconomic background, most people would agree that having some decent natural areas near where one lives is a big plus. I believe that many of those cities in our country deemed exciting and desirable are strongly associated with opportunities to live near and recreate in scenic natural areas.
Here in central Indiana we don't have a seacoast, or mountains, or cactus in a desert. We do have the remnants of the great eastern deciduous forest and its warblers, its spring wildflowers, and its dramatic seasonal displays. It seems that the more people know about Indiana's woodlands, and the more time they spend in them, the more they value the experience. I think that Indianapolis is an exciting place live in many ways.
We seem to be in a bit of a long due Renaissance. Our downtown, once written off for dead, has laughing people and well-dressed couples walking the sidewalks. The White River has been correctly identified as an asset, and cultural development is focused on White River State Park. For these things, we must thank the vision of our leaders and continue to support a better way of life for all of Indianapolis' citizens.
But much of our woods are gone, and what remains is going fast. We at CILTI are trying to provide a vision of central Indiana with natural areas. The time is now to protect what natural features remain and to begin the restoration of our resilient woodlands.
CILTI has focused on Marion County and the rapidly developing "collar" counties that surround it, searching out the best that remains and working with landowners at developing projects. But, as they say, once they're gone, they're gone. At least until the next ice age comes along.
Can you put a price on these things: the peace of spirit given to you by gazing on a wooded slope seen from your car as you rush from place to place, the broken patterns of the trees, perhaps flush with the first green of spring; comfort in the knowledge that Indiana's diverse wildflowers and neotropical migrant songbirds have a bit of a home left?
Well, we must. You do get what you pay for, after all. Development pressures are at an all time high, and the price of land is spiraling up, up, up. So please renew your membership with CILTI and be prepared to support us as more projects come on line.
I am excited about Indianapolis' future as a more vibrant, more encultured, and more economically healthy community -- a place that is going to need and appreciate natural areas nearby. I know that the hard work and capital investment necessary to accomplish preservation of green space can be achieved. Again, I don't know if that is the kind of place you want to live in or not, but I suspect that it is.