The implementation of the Greening the Crossroads vision in many ways can help the region become more disaster resistant by increasing the amount of land available for natural stormwater retention, slowing runoff by replanting riparian areas with appropriate native vegetation and preventing the erosion of precious topsoil.
Implementation is a collaborative, decentralized process, relying on partners to use the Greening the Crossroads network in their daily work, use it to prioritize their limited funds and as an inspiration touchstone. Green infrastructure is not a government program but a planning approach so implementation of this plan is a matter of improving the coordination of existing programs rather than starting new programs. Some of the opportunities for implementation are highlighted below:
The Central Indiana Land Trust will facilitate the creation of a Greening the Crossroads steering committee that will reach out through the community to stakeholders committed to implementing the vision.
Each year the Central Indiana Land Trust will host a leadership forum to focus on the progress of implementing Greening the Crossroads among a range of government agencies, nonprofit organizations, academic institutions and concerned citizens.
Greening the Crossroads will be provided to municipal and county officials as a reference for when they update comprehensive and park plans. Also, it will be an added resource for decision makers in the environmental review process where appropriate.
Financial support for land conservation and the implementation of Greening the Crossroads can come from diverse funding sources. The Upland Brewing Company, in Bloomington, Indiana, has created a special draft beer, Preservation Pilsner, as a way to show support for land conservation. The brewing company donates 10% of the profits from the sale of Preservation Pilsner to local community groups, such as the Central Indiana Land Trust, that work on land conservation, preservation of family farms and the protection of forestlands.
How would you like to have your property taxes reduced to a dollar a year? If you live in Indiana and own more than 10 acres of undeveloped forest, wetlands, scrubland or grasslands, you may qualify for reduced taxes in exchange for participating in the Classified Forest and Wildland Program. Landowners enroll in the program and agree to follow a professional management plan for their land. Currently only 3,700 acres of land are enrolled in this program within the green infrastructure network. Making more landowners aware of these tremendous tax savings and conservation opportunities is a key implementation step. By rewarding sound stewardship by private landowners, the green infrastructure network remains strong, supporting both wildlife and people.
Indiana has a remarkable state trails plan, “Hoosiers on the Move: The Indiana State Trails, Greenways and Bikeway Plan,” which calls for providing trail opportunities within 7.5 miles or 15 minutes of all Indiana residents by 2016. Many of the corridors highlighted in Greening the Crossroads are also highlighted as potential trails corridors. By using ecological principles to identify wildlife corridors, Hoosiers get a two-for-one benefit—corridors that can be used for both wildlife and recreation by people.
The habitat needs of wildlife were a significant factor in shaping the "core areas" of the green infrastructure network in central Indiana. A team from the Fund, the Land Trust, and local scientists studied the forests, wetlands and aquatic systems and examined the needs of key wildlife or “focal species” that use these landscapes. The habitat needs for these species were modeled and combined with the natural resource features of the three landscapes; together, they form the "core areas" of the green infrastructure network.
Central Indiana is the summer home of several colonies of the Indiana bat, a federally listed rare and endangered species. By day, the Indiana bat prefers to be tucked snuggly under the bark of a well lit tree, especially old shagbark hickories. At night, the bats come out, and hunt along streams and wetlands for insects.
By using habitat models created by Geographic Information Systems (GIS), the Fund's team mapped forest and wetland areas in Central Indiana that would make an ideal habitat for the Indiana bat. But these models won't just benefit the bat—conservationists hope they will also protect a host of other species that also rely on these complex linkages.
For more information on the Indiana bat, click here.
Due to both hunting and habitat loss, by 1942 no breeding pairs of river otters were left in Indiana. As a top predator—they feed on a wide range of fish, frogs, toads, snakes and crayfish—a healthy population of otters is a sound indicator of the overall health of a river or creek. The Indiana Department of Natural Resources has been working hard to restore the otter and today several creeks in Central Indiana now support populations. River otters have a large home range of 18 to 30 miles along a river or stream.
Find out more from the River Otter Alliance.
The ovenbird needs at least 750 acres of large, unbroken deciduous forest to provide sufficient food and protection. Because the ovenbird builds its nest on the forest floor it is particularly vulnerable to predators—including other birds that take over its nest by replacing its eggs with their own. By dwelling deep in the forest, the ovenbird reduces its vulnerability. Areas that have 750 or more acres of forest are priorities in the Greening the Crossroads network.
For more information go to the Cornell Lab of Ornithology.
Central Indiana is the crossroads of America. Good soils for farming, mature forests and clear running rivers and streams were all natural assets that attracted pioneers and residents—and helped build a healthy economy.
But in recent years, Indiana has experienced declines in natural assets that may endanger the state’s economy and the quality of life for its residents. Consider how the state and region have fared in the following national metrics on environmental issues:
Forbes.com ranks Indiana 49th out of 50 states in its America’s Greenest States Report (Alesia, April 22, 2009).
Indiana has the highest amount of toxic discharges into water bodies according to the U.S. EPA (Giller, May 23, 2009).
Indiana ranks 16th for adult obesity—with 27.4 percent of adults being obese according to the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation (Bergoetz, July 2, 2009).
Indiana ranked 7th in the United States for its rapid loss of farmland according to the American Farmland Trust (AFT, 2002).
In spring 2008 central Indiana was hit with major flooding, totaling more than $88 million in damage to crops and infrastructure. The extent of flooding and speed of rising waters was a wake-up call on the health of the region’s rivers and streams and the financial costs of poor land-use decisions to landowners, public officials and residents. The Central Indiana Land Trust was interested in a regional conservation vision that would help government officials and the public understand the value of ecosystems for both the services they provide, such as floodwater storage, but also as part of securing a high quality of life for residents and visitors. With only three paid staff to cover 3.1 million acres of land in a region of 1.8 million people, the question of which lands to conserve and devote limited staff time—and dollars—to was an important concern of the land trust.
To reverse the decline in quality as well as quantity of natural assets and improve the public perception of central Indiana as a desirable place to live and work, the Central Indiana Land Trust, with funding from the Nina Mason Pulliam Charitable Trust, invited The Conservation Fund to guide the public through the green infrastructure planning process.
Stakeholders representing all levels of government, nonprofit organizations, foundations and community leaders came together to guide this process. The result of the public planning process was Greening the Crossroads, a regional, landscape scale conservation network plan for the nine-county region. This is a vision that has been crafted by the citizens of central Indiana and is a broad-based, collaborative effort.
After completing an assessment of the natural resources for the nine counties, The Conservation Fund designed a green infrastructure network to help the Central Indiana Land Trust identify critical lands for conservation, raise awareness among residents of the Indianapolis region of the value of natural lands, and identify implementation strategies that will ensure a legacy of conservation for future generations.
The Fund designed a green infrastructure network that highlights more than 300,000 acres of high-quality land in need of protection or continued environmental stewardship by private landowners.
Many of the natural corridors highlighted by the green infrastructure plan were also highlighted in the state’s recreational trails plan. By using ecological planning principles to highlight corridors, residents will get both outstanding recreational trails as well as provide opportunities for wildlife movement.
At the heart of the study area is Marion County and the city of Indianapolis. The region surrounding Indianapolis and Marion County is mostly rural. More than 68% of the study area is farmland, and another 13% is forestland. Preserving the contrast between the urban and rural landscapes is crucial to protecting a sense of place.
Indiana’s farmland uses an extensive drainage system to move water quickly off the land. The green infrastructure planning process raised the awareness of many stakeholders on the need to change the design of this drainage system and made the connection between this drainage practice and recent flooding. As farmland is the dominant land use across the region, working with the farming community on management practices and highlighting the benefits of green infrastructure could make a large impact.
(Click on the image for a detailed planning map.)
There are several goals and recommendations in the Greening the Crossroads plan, including the sound stewardship and restoration of Central Indiana’s rivers and streams. The use of the green infrastructure plan to help prioritize existing funding from government programs and foundations to support restoration efforts is a long-term goal of the plan.
While the Central Indiana Land Trust will use the plan to help with its land-protection programs, the coalition of stakeholders involved will make progress by working with private landowners to support the environmental stewardship of their land. To help coordinate and inspire this coalition of stakeholders, the Central Indiana Land Trust has pledged to host an annual Leadership Forum on the implementation of the Greening the Crossroads report.
(Click on the image for a detailed view of the green infrastructure network map.)
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