INDIANA
STATE REPORT
May 2015
Cameron Clark, Director
Indiana Department of Natural Resources
402 W. Washington St. Room W-255
Indianapolis, IN 46204
Public Lands Program: The Healthy Rivers INitiative (HRI), the largest land
conservation initiative to be undertaken in Indiana is celebrating its five year anniversary
this year. The HRI sets out to enhance, restore and protect over 43,000 acres located in
the floodplain of the Wabash River/Sugar Creek riparian corridor and over 26,000 acres
of the Muscatatuck River riparian corridor. To date, HRI has permanently protected
32,553 acres. These lands have been protected for future generations through a
combination of fee simple acquisitions from willing sellers, conservation easements, and
Wetlands Reserve Program enrollments. To date, a total of 9,582 acres are now open to
the public. A total of 18 new parking areas have been constructed. Allowable activities
at this time include: hunting, fishing, trapping, bird watching, photography, and
mushroom hunting.
In addition to HRI accomplishments, the public lands unit acquired 337 new acres in
2014. These lands include three new Game Bird habitat areas and additional acres added
to current fish and wildlife areas.
Given the nationwide increase in firearms and ammunition sales and the increase in
available Pittman Robertson monies, public lands is investing approximately $4 million
in renovation and construction of two new state of the art shooting ranges to help better
meet the growing demand for shooting opportunities. Construction is scheduled to start
in this fall.
The public lands unit is in a transition period because of multiple vacancies due to
retirements. The unit is looking to fill these vacancies sometime in the not too distant
future. In the meantime, public lands is evaluating historical functions in relation to a
growing public land base, changing priorities, decreasing personnel, and evolving social
demographics.
Marketing: The Division of Fish
and Wildlife (DFW) entered its
eighth year of the State Direct Mail
Marketing Program in conjunction
with the Recreational Boating and
Fishing Foundation (RBFF).
Postcards were mailed in midApril and emails were also sent to
select anglers. The DFW also attended RBFF’s state marketing meeting in Dallas, TX in
which 48 states attended and discussed marketing strategies. The Indiana Division of Fish
and Wildlife was selected to speak about our Hunt, Fish, Eat and CookIN Gone Wild
programs at this meeting. Our email marketing campaign was also highlighted as one of
the states that is presenting emails in a user-friendly way and used as an example of how
to do email marketing.
A strategic email marketing program was also developed that includes “thank you”
emails for license purchases, reminders on upcoming seasons, and results of reserved
hunt draws. A printed hunting/trapping and fishing guide is available through a contract
with J.F. Griffin, information and regulations are shared in these guides annually. We
have also started a DNR–wide YouTube channel. This channel features DFW programs,
how to videos, and educational/informational videos for the public. A monthly enewsletter, Wild Bulletin, is also sent out on a monthly basis to over 300,000 subscribers
and offers DNR news, events, and license purchasing information.
Private Lands Program: Private lands biologists implemented wildlife management
plans with 523 landowners, impacting 4,687.82 acres, including the development of
2,342.3 acres of idle nesting cover, 707.5 acres of fescue eradication, and 846.7 acres of
CRP mid-contract management. Biologists also addressed 1,765 nuisance wildlife
complaints, including 433 deer and 301 goose complaints. To date 26,488 acres have
been enrolled in CP38 in Indiana.
Wildlife Science Program: During the past year, research biologists within the Wildlife
Diversity Unit and Wildlife Research Unit were merged together to form the Wildlife
Science Unit. Biologists within this unit serve as our wildlife species experts and are the
research and monitoring arm of the wildlife section. Personnel supervise and conduct
numerous surveys to monitor the status, distribution and relative abundance of fish and
wildlife populations throughout the state which include surveys such as, basic statistics
from statewide mobile acoustic bat surveys, Franklin ground squirrels and swamp rabbit
surveys, various migratory bird surveys to assess the migratory bird populations. In
addition, a number of external multi-year grant projects are being funded including:
- A deer dispersal and genetic study
in southern Indiana. This is a
follow-up to the fawn mortality
and dispersal study in the same
area. The purpose of the fawn
project is to help us better
understand the roles that fawn
survival and dispersal play in the
population dynamics of
urban/suburban versus rural deer
populations. The purpose of the
deer dispersal and genetic study is
to help us understand herd dynamics of deer in both the urban and non-urban areas and
if there are any movements and interactions of deer between urban and non-urban
populations.
- Development of an outreach campaign to help protect five federally listed mussels in
the Tippecanoe River.
- Evaluating awareness and attitudes of humans toward eastern hellbenders in the Blue
River watershed.
- Repatriation of eastern hellbenders via translocation and head-starting and assessing
juvenile survival in eastern hellbenders.
- Ranavirus surveillance in Box turtles and aquatic amphibians.
- Local and landscape habitat association, population ecology, and the future recovery of
crawfish frogs (Rana areolate) in Indiana.
- Winter censuses of hibernating bats in southern Indiana caves.
- Analysis of microclimate conditions at winter roost sites in bat hibernacula in Indiana.
- Impacts of White-Nose Syndrome on a bat community near the Indianapolis Airport.
- Managing genetic isolation due to habitat fragmentation: A model-based tool for using
assisted migration as an aid to recovery of Allegheny woodrats.
- The Southern Wings program was developed in 2009 by the Association of Fish and
Wildlife Agencies to provide an efficient means for states to support conservation
projects in tropical areas that benefit their species of greatest conservation concern.
Wildlife science unit biologists are also heavily involved in disease monitoring. Whitenose Syndrome, Bovine tuberculosis, Epizootic Hemorrhagic Disease and Chronic
Wasting Disease surveillance programs continued this year.
Recruitment and Retention: The Indiana Division
of Fish and Wildlife along with its many volunteers
and partners conducted a variety of fishing, hunting
and shooting recruitment/retention activities across
the state. These activities range from free fishing
weekend events, family learn to fish programs to
mentored hunts for both youth and novice hunters to
introductory shooting activities for families. We
facilitated seven crew captain workshops through
our Go FishIN program, three master naturalist
classes, two classes at Becoming an Outdoor
Woman fished with 2,800 kids at the state fair
fishing pond, had 1,300 people fishing at the
Hoosier Outdoor Experience, taught 600 kids how
to cast at the Outdoor Challenge and had 2,700
people at our free fishing day events. We also took a
fishing trip down the White River and invited the
public to join us for the White River Festival, this including fishing at easily accessible
locations and catching a fish at each one throughout the day, anglers and interested
parties could follow our journey on facebook and twitter.
DFW staff facilitated over 40 hunting events with over 1,200 participants throughout the
year 1,500 presentations on fish and wildlife topics, had 12,000 participants at our annual
Hoosier Outdoor Experience for fish and wildlife events, and had 2,000 participants in
our annual wild game cookout at the Indiana State Fair. We have continued our CookIN
Gone Wild: Field-to-Table series on YouTube to allow people to see what it takes to go
from the field to the table, including hunting, fishing, cleaning, and cooking. Twenty-six
videos have been produced with over 63,900 views. This video series is meant to get
people interested in hunting and fishing activities and give them the tools to venture out
on their own. We have also developed videos on deer hunting tips for beginners and how
to process your wild turkey or Canada goose to help out new and existing hunters.
We started an apprentice license program, allowing individuals to try hunting without
having to take a hunter education course, in 2009, a 43% increase in apprentice license
sales have been observed from 2009-2014. Our overall license numbers have decreased
since 2012, however our revenue has increased. This is due to the new deer bundle
license that was first offered in 2012. This license allows hunter to harvest three deer
throughout multiple seasons. All of our recruitment and retention efforts are designed to
take participants from a basic knowledge of fishing/hunting/shooting to the ability to
participate in these activities on their own.
Lake and River Enhancement (LARE) Program: In fiscal year 2014-2015, the Lake
and River Enhancement (LARE) Program provided over $1.75 million in grants to
sponsors in numerous Indiana counties. While many grants dealt with management and
control of aquatic invasive vegetation, others served the dual purpose of addressing
sediment and nutrient input into lakes or rivers as well as measures to improve aquatic
habitat. LARE partnered with other local, county, state, and federal agencies to address
these issues while leveraging funds from sources other than state tax revenue. Local
citizens get involved as participants with project sponsoring entities responsible for 20%
to 50% of the cost in cash or inkind support. The 70 projects
funded included control of
invasive aquatic vegetation,
logjam removal, sediment
removal, and various biological
and engineering measures to
reduce the input of nutrients
and sediment in lakes or
rivers. In 2014-2015, several of
the projects specifically
targeted means to improve
aquatic habitat in addition to
addressing stream bank
stability, such as the one
pictured below in Marshall
County. Several large sediment removal projects to improve public recreational access to
Indiana lakes were started in this time period also.
The restored shoreline of Lake Galbraith included plantings of native species, installation
of coir logs with rock toe reinforcement, and was completed in 2014. (Photo courtesy of
Cardno JFNew, the contractor who completed project with LARE funding.
Asian Carp Update: Eagle Marsh in Ft. Wayne, IN lies on the continental divide
between the Mississippi River basin and the Great Lakes basin. Behind the Chicago Area
Waterway System, the Eagle Marsh location was deemed the second highest potential
pathway for Asian carp to reach the Great Lakes. A temporary fence was installed across
Eagle Marsh in 2010 to prevent the transfer of adult Asian carp. Planning was underway
soon thereafter to develop a permanent solution to prevent all AIS transfer at the
location. The solution will involve the reconstruction of the failing berm that is adjacent
to the Graham-McCulloch Ditch which flows through the property. Site preparation for
the project began in the fall of 2014 and construction of the new berm will begin in the
late spring of 2015 with completion expected in the fall of 2015. The construction of the
berm will disturb approximately 16 acres of wetlands. As a result 38 acres of lowland
property which is mostly agricultural is being purchased nearby for wetland restoration
efforts to mitigate for the wetland loss on Eagle Marsh. Construction of the mitigation
area is expected to be completed in the fall of 2015. The primary partners in the berm
reconstruction and mitigation projects include Indiana DNR, NRCS, and Little River
Wetlands Project which is a local non-profit land trust and co-owner of Eagle
Marsh. Funding is provided by NRCS and the Great Lakes Restoration Initiative.
Two Asian carp research projects were completed late in 2014 through contracts with
Purdue University using Great Lakes Restoration Initiative funding. The first was a four
year study to understand the movement, reproduction, and habitat use of Asian carp in the
upper Wabash River. The second project evaluated the susceptibility of Asian carp to a
variety of pathogens.
Go FishIN in the City: Go FishIN in the City is Indiana DNR’s urban fishing program
that was enacted in 2013. This program provides great shore fishing
opportunities for Hoosiers that live in heavily populated urban areas. With
the help of local partners, the Indiana Department of Natural Resources will
intensively stock catchable size channel catfish and rainbow trout
throughout the year in small city lakes. The selected lakes are located in
local city parks that are family friendly and well maintained. Several free
fishing day and family learn to fish workshops have taken place at these
lakes throughout the state to promote fishing and family outdoor activities
close to home. http://www.in.gov/dnr/fishwild/7508.htm
Public Access Program: In 2014, DFW rehabbed six Public Access Sites (PAS) in
Indiana. These include Goose Lake PAS in Whitely County, Cedar Lake PAS in Lake
County, Jimmerson Lake PAS in Steuben County, Elnora PAS in Daviess County,
Driftwood Public Fishing Area in Bartholomew County, and Bluegrass PAS in Warrick
County. These public access sites were in need of repairs due to their old age. A new
canoe site was completed in northern Indiana named Aubbeenaubee PAS in Fulton
County. This will be a new site for the public to access the Tippecanoe River (photo
below). A new boat ramp for our Healthy Rivers Initiative in Vigo County named
Riverview PAS was also completed. This new site will allow boaters to enjoy the
Wabash River in that area.
For 2015, we have six public access projects planned for Northern Indiana.
Canoe access sites include: Ligonier PAS on the Elkhart River in Noble County,
Riverside Park PAS on the
Eel River in Cass County,
Maumee Dam PAS on the
Maumee River in Allen
County and St. Joe
College on the Iroquois
River in Jasper County.
Boat launch sites include:
Pittsburgh on the Wabash
River in Carroll County
and Pike Lake PAS on
Pike Lake in Kosciusko
County.
In southern Indiana we
have three boat ramp rehabilitations scheduled. These include Winslow PAS in Pike
County, Medora PAS in Jackson County, and Worthington PAS in Greene County. It is
planned to have a new entrance road and parking lot completed at our Three Rivers
Public Fishing Area in Morgan County in 2015.