Orange County property acquired, to be included in Hoosier National Forest
Subscriber Benefit
As a subscriber you can listen to articles at work, in the car, or while you work out. Subscribe Now
The Central Indiana Land Trust has closed on the purchase of an 80-acre property within the Hoosier National Forest regarded for its distinctive geological features and rare plant life.
The trust outbid two others at an auction last month for the privately owned parcel, known as an inholding because it is situated within the boundaries of the national forest. The purchase price was $541,000.
“This was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to protect an inholding in a national forest. If CILTI wasn’t able to help, the land would likely be developed,” trust President Cliff Chapman said in a news release.
Andrew Stokely, a trust board member who attended the auction, said the pair the trust was bidding against had plans for a housing development on the property.
The trust said it doesn’t oppose development but believed this tract of land should be preserved.
The trust plans to sell the acreage to the federal government for inclusion in the Hoosier National Forest, which encompasses 204,000 acres in south-central Indiana. The parcel’s distinctive geological features include a sandstone arch, sandstone barrens and two pit caves. The barrens contain the rare silver plumegrass.
Funds for the purchase came from the trust’s Evergreen Fund for Nature, the news release said.
“This is a perfect example of why we established the Evergreen Fund for Nature and why our donors like contributing to it,” Chapman said. “Without that fund, we likely wouldn’t have been able to put a deal together fast enough to buy the land and ensure the state wouldn’t end up with a housing development in the middle of a national forest.”
The seller of the property was not identified.