In the 1930s, the Department of Conservation (forerunner to the DNR), recognized the need for a division focused solely on land acquisition and other real estate activities. According to the first departmental land acquisition procedure manual dated March 29, 1939:
The Department of Conservation owns and supervises more acres of land for the use and enjoyment of the public than any other department of government of the State of Indiana. The acquisition of this land is divided into three divisions: The Division of State Parks, Lands, and Waters; Division of Forestry; and the Division of Fish and Game. The statutes require that the Department of Conservation shall have the custody of abstracts of title, papers, contracts, and memoranda relating to purchase of land except the original deeds to the State of Indiana which are filed in the office of the Auditor of State [the State Land Office]. In order to facilitate the acquisition of a large number of acres of land, and to provide for efficiency in the administration of this land after being acquired and paid for, there has been set up an inter-department organization which shall be known as the Land Acquisition Section of the Department of Conservation for the purposes of identification. This section handles all the land purchases for each of the three divisions of the Department of Conservation, and keeps the necessary records connected therewith.
Although some of the DNR land-holding Divisions have since been re-named, the Division of Land Acquisition continues to serve the DNR as it did when it was first established nine decades ago.
Prior to the creation of the President Benjamin Harrison Conservation Trust in 1992, DNR did not have a dedicated source of land acquisition funding. In the decades since, two additional Land Acquisition funding programs have allowed the DNR to preserve nearly 20,000 acres for future generations. These programs were one-time funding allocations that have been fully committed.
Bicentennial Nature Trust
The Bicentennial Nature Trust (BNT) was a program to acquire land for conservation and recreation to leave as a perpetual gift to all Hoosiers as part of the State Bicentennial Celebration in 2016. This statewide effort honored a tradition of conservation established by Col. Richard Lieber in 1916 with the creation of the state park system. The program was funded with $20 million in state funds and a $10 million Lilly Endowment grant.
The BNT funded 207 projects in 60 counties across the state, resulting in the permanent protection of 16,310 acres (25.5 square miles). Of these projects, 151 were conservation easements in partnership with land trusts, local parks departments, and nonprofit trail groups and 56 were fee simple acquisitions to be owned and managed directly by the DNR. Every dollar of BNT funding leveraged $1.45 matching value.
Next Level Conservation Trust
The Next Level Conservation Trust (NLCT) was announced in 2022 following a $25 million appropriation by the Indiana General Assembly, the largest single infusion of state dollars into conservation in the state’s history. By the end of 2025, all available NLCT funding had been committed to 29 different projects, resulting in the protection of 3,620 acres throughout Indiana.
The NLCT was created to preserve and protect important conservation, recreation, and historic areas throughout Indiana. Property acquired through this fund has become part of the public trust to ensure that the land is protected for future generations of Hoosiers to use and enjoy. Properties purchased with NLCT include additions to State Parks, State Forests, Fish & Wildlife Areas, and Nature Preserves. NLCT funds also supported DNR’s acquisition of Conservation Easements in partnership with non-profit land trusts and local parks departments.
The NLCT was designed to encourage local participation, so the program required a 25% match ($3 of NLCT funds to $1 of match). The match could be provided by local governments, nonprofit or philanthropic organizations, or by bargain sale. At the conclusion of the program, the match ratio for distributed funding reached 32.6%, exceeding the program’s target.