Herb and Charlotte Read of Westchester Township are among the new inductees into the Indiana Conservation Hall of Fame.

The Reads, along with seven individuals, were selected from nearly 90 nominations to form the 2010 class.

The other members are Glenn A. Black, Garrett Eppley, Irene Herlocker-Meyer, William Temple Hornaday, Alton A. Lindsey, Dick Mercier, and Jim Ridenour.

“These people have dedicated their lives to the conservation of our natural and cultural resources and we are honored to recognize their accomplishments,” said Bourke Patton, executive director of the Natural Resources Foundation.

The 2010 inductees will be celebrated at the Conservation Hall of Fame Banquet and Induction Ceremony on Sept. 17 at The Garrison at Fort Harrison State Park. Tickets are $75 and available by calling (317) 234-5447 or ordering online at www.IndianaNRF.org

A brief biography of each inductee follows:

•The Reads began their involvement with the Save the Dunes Council in 1952 and continue to influence conservation through service on the Indiana Heritage Trust Project Committee and on local land trusts.

•Black, Indiana’s first professional archaeologist, identified thousands of Native American archaeological sites in Indiana and extensively studied Angel Mounds.

•Eppley served as chair of the Indiana University Department of Recreation, where he helped develop Bradford Woods and influenced recreation and outdoor education.

•Herlocker-Meyer worked for a decade to protect Indiana’s last remaining grassland, Hoosier Prairie Nature Preserve.

She also was a founding member of the Save the Dunes Council and a life trustee of the Indiana Chapter of The Nature Conservancy.

•Hornaday revolutionized how museums display mounted wildlife and is credited with saving the American bison and Alaskan fur seal from extinction. His prolific writings contributed to the conservation teachings of the Boy Scouts of America.

•Lindsey, who was the professor of Forest Ecology at Purdue University from 1947–73, helped found the Ross Biological Preserve. Lindsey is credited with helping found Indiana Dunes National Lakeshore and Pine Hills and Big Walnut nature preserves.

•Mercier founded the Indiana Sportsmen’s Roundtable, which actively lobbies and supports hunters’ rights and hunter education programs.

•Ridenour was director of the Indiana Department of Natural Resources from 1981-89 and director of the National Park Service from 1989-93.

He also is credited with helping Jamaica create a national park system.

Created in 2009, the Indiana Conservation Hall of Fame recognizes individuals, living or deceased, who have made extraordinary contributions to the conservation and preservation of Indiana’s natural and cultural heritage. Individuals must have a strong tie to Indiana and have impacted a wide range of natural or cultural resources and their use.

Each nominee is judged by his or her own merit, in the historical setting of the time in which they lived.