Spring 1998

A botanically rich area wedged between heavy urbanization and agriculture.

Lake County, Indiana

Unlike many natural areas in the Chicago region, which were drained and farmed before being restored to their natural states, the core area of Hoosier Prairie was never plowed. Some light grazing wasn't enough to destroy the native plants, and today it's a healthy area noted for both its size and its broad diversity.

The Indiana Department of Nature Preserves bought the core 335 acres in 1976. Subsequent purchases brought the total to over 500 acres today; the acquisition of several hundred additional acres is pending or planned.

Part of the site demonstrates natural processes in action: adjacent to the parking lot is an old wheat field, added to the preserve as a buffer. Most of the plants here are still exotics, like Queen Anne's lace and Kentucky blue grass. But native prairie plants are slowly — and naturally — recolonizing the area, with more plants like big bluestem and marsh blazing star appearing every year.

Like many natural areas along the shores of Lake Michigan, Hoosier Prairie owes much of its biodiversity to swell-and-swale topography, a remnant of dunes that formed thousands of years ago, when the shores of Lake Chicago (the precursor to Lake Michigan) were here. Like the Indiana Dunes, the Prairie contains niches of biological communities that are commonly found far to the north. Bracken and sweetfern, for instance, typically grow in the North Woods; they came here with a changing climate during the last ice age. When the climate warmed up, the plants held on in isolated pockets like this one.

The elevation at Hoosier Prairie changes less than 10 feet across the entire preserve. But that's enough for a great variety in natural communities, from marshes and wet prairie to upland oak savannas and mesic prairie. There are roughly equal amounts of wet and dry areas.

A variety of wildflowers and sedges grow in the wet prairie; cattails dominate the prairie marsh but one also finds swamp milkweed and blue flag there. The upland areas include healthy bur- and white-oak savannas and mesic prairie, with Indian grass, rattlesnake master, and wild quinine.

As one might expect at a botanically rich area wedged between heavy urbanization and agriculture to the south, birds descend in large numbers on Hoosier Prairie. Yellowthroats, swamp sparrows, woodcocks and song sparrows are common. A small number of red-tailed hawks and great horned owls nest at the site. American and least bitterns, a number of rails, and many ducks and geese splash in the wetlands and waters. The location of Hoosier Prairie at the southern point of Lake Michigan also attracts many migrating birds. Over 120 bird species have been recorded here; a broad array of land animals and insects are here too.

Because of its status as a state nature preserve, there are few activities allowed at Hoosier, and much of the site is off-limits to visitors. But an excellent trail, about 3/4 mile long, gives a good sample of the rich nature here. The first leg is covered with crushed limestone, the rest is rough and, because of the low topography, can get rather wet at times; boots are highly recommended! For more information, call the Indiana Department of Natural Resources at (219) 843-5012.

— Chris Larson