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 Resource
management and conservation professionals help
establish management plans for CILTI's land holdings
to maintain and restore natural features. Biological
inventories guide the protection efforts, which
include eradication of exotic species, and restoration
of biological diversity and native communities.
Dedicated volunteers carry out the land stewardship
plans and activities.
When CILTI obtains
either ownership or management responsibility for a
preserve, it assumes an obligation for the preserve's
ongoing care. This is "stewardship." In
Indiana, the need for land stewardship arises mainly
from the fragmented character of our natural
landscape. Forests and wetlands usually abut roads,
farms, subdivisions, and shopping centers. Prairie
remnants are just that -- small patches, often under
an acre in size, and serving double duty as a cemetery
or as a utility right of way.
The native animals and plants that
make the preserve biologically significant and
aesthetically appealing are under assault. Exotic
species, like garlic mustard and amur honeysuckle,
often pose the greatest threats. Trash, collecting ,
hunting, woodcutting, and vehicle damage are other
threats.
It is the function of stewardship to
address these problems, and sometimes we can even do things to restore what was
previously lost. We can also use stewardship
activities to educate others and to promote the
organization.
Stewardship Field Days
The
Stewardship Committee's field days are a vital part of
land stewardship, and member participation is strongly
encouraged. Field days typically take place on
Saturday mornings in the spring and fall. Visit
our Events page for the
latest listings and to sign up.
Volunteer Site Stewards
As CILTI has and will continue to
acquire properties which are widely separated from
each other, the need to have one or more
"Site Stewards" per property has grown.
Duties for volunteer stewards include regular property
visits, alert the organization of property needs,
coordinate work projects to pick up trash, maintain
trails and signs, monitor boundaries, remove fencing
and other non-natural objects, control exotics,
install visitor boxes, monitor significant species and
habitats, assist student activities, and. promote the
preserve.
Being a volunteer steward does not
mean having to do all of the work yourself!
Stewardship can be as little as promising to visit,
observe, and communicate needs. At the same time,
stewardship provides the opportunity to become
acquainted with the preserve on a personal level.
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