Shirley Heinze Land Trust, a local non-profit organization dedicated to
protecting natural land in the southern Lake Michigan watershed, has
purchased the former Meadowbrook Girl Scout Camp in Liberty Township, north
of Valparaiso on CR 700 North.
The Trust will operate the 74-acre property as a natural area and a center
for environmental education and outdoor recreation. Existing structures
along CR 700N will house the organization’s administrative offices and its
stewardship and education arms.
“Meadowbrook represents a turning point in our organization’s history,” says
Margaret Williford, President of the Shirley Heinze Land Trust Board of
Directors. “It’s a splendid addition to our holdings of natural land in
Northwest Indiana, but it also provides long-needed office and storage
facilities to support our growing programs. The hiking trails and outdoor
amphitheater at Meadowbrook are perfect for the Mighty Acorns educational
program we administer for local elementary school students. After thirty
years occupying cramped rental quarters, we are delighted to finally have
our own home.”
Shirley Heinze Land Trust Executive Director Kris Krouse said preserving
Meadowbrook will benefit air and water qualities in the area significantly.
The site, he said, has a number of habitats and natural communities such as
an upland forest, a deep ravine along a stream, mixed-age woodlands
reclaimrd former crop land, shrub lands, scattered patches of evergreens,
and a forested wetland. He said that the property also includes portions of
three headwater streams which join in an unnamed tributary of Salt Creek
which flows into the East Arm of the Little Calumet River and ultimately
empties into Lake Michigan. The site also provides important wildlife
habitats, as well as migratory, nesting, and wintering grounds for numerous
bird species.
The acquisition comes after a year of negotiations with Girl Scouts of
Greater Chicago and Northwest Indiana, who retired the facility after
completing a two-year, volunteer-led, long-range planning review of all its
properties in late 2011. Krouse added that his organization’s success in
closing the deal owes much to the contributions of many partners. He said
The Gaylord and Dorothy Donnelley Foundation provided a loan to cover the
entire cost of the purchase. The Indiana Bicentennial Nature Trust granted
$240,000 toward the purchase price.
Nearly twenty local non-profit, governmental, and educational entities
submitted letters in support of the grant applications. Krouse said the Girl
Scouts agreed to a reasonable price to ensure the property’s environmentally
focused future.
“We are very grateful to all our friends for making this possible,” Krouse
said. “ We are proud to have worked with the Girl Scouts and our other
partners to guarantee that this property will continue to be available to
the Northwest Indiana community.”
To share in the happiness with supporters, Krouse said there will be an open
house in the spring and a community hike later in the year.
Started in 1981, Shirley Heinze Land Trust now manages and permanently
protects more than 1,300 acres. Five of its properties -- Cressmoor Seidner
Dune & Swale, John Merle Coulter Preserve, Barker Woods, and Ambler
Flatwoods -- have been dedicated to the people of Indiana as state nature
preserves.
For more information on the work and programs of Shirley Heinze Land Trust,
call 219-879-4725, or visit
www.heinzetrust.org
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