Whether for wildlife habitat, recreation or because of its special nature, the Indiana Heritage Trust finds properties in Indiana that are exceptional and should be protected.
The land might be important or fragile. It could provide valuable habitat for an endangered species or offer opportunities for recreation. The properties also could provide a chance to preserve or enhance special cultural resources.
The money for these land purchases comes from me and from you. Those of us who buy the Environmental License Plate are partners in this effort. Other partners include land trusts and often the landowners who forgo large profits in order to protect the property.
Looking back, 2003 was a successful year for the protection of special properties in Indiana. The sale of 68,996 Environmental License Plates provided $1,724,900 with which we were able to purchase or protect nearly 1,100 acres of land. Through the end of November in 2004 Hoosiers had purchased 65,370 plates for revenue of $1,634,250.
The partnerships we formed to purchase some of the properties allowed us to leverage the ELP money to go even further. In fact, our goal of 100,000 acres by our bi-centennial in 2016 would be completely unattainable without our partners.
Heritage Trust partnerships work in many different ways. Sometimes we simply pool our financial resources to buy acreage that just one of us would be unable to afford. Sometimes one partner will purchase a property but another will take over the maintenance and management of the property and thereby share the overall cost.
However the partnerships are structured, we all benefit. Each dollar we Hoosiers spend on an ELP leverages another $4 from our partners. The environment and our natural resources and cultural resources are the winners.
Although the land-purchase goals the DNR set are admittedly ambitious, we are still anticipating success. Reaching the original goal of 100,000 acres purchased by the 2016 bi-centennial will be strenuous. But the partnerships make it possible.
