Conservationist Creates Endowment For Indiana Prairie

Associated Press

The Hoosier Prairie Nature Preserve in Griffith, Indiana.
*Chris Light/National Park Service*

GRIFFITH, Ind. (AP) — A northwestern Indiana conservationist has created an endowment that will help pay for the stewardship of one of the state's last remaining prairies.

Portage resident Myrna Newgent established the endowment with the Indiana Natural Resources Foundation to support long-term stewardship work to maintain the Hoosier Prairie Nature Preserve.

That 719-acre grassland in northern Lake County is owned and managed by the state Department of Natural Resources and is a remnant of northwestern Indiana's once common prairie landscape.

The tract boasts a wealth of unusual and rare plants and is a top bird-watching site.

DNR Nature Preserves Director John Bacone says Newgent's generosity will help keep the prairie in a natural ecological condition to allow visitors "to enjoy a piece of the 'original Indiana,' as it was in 1816."

Tags:Lake County Portage

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