Eco-Tourism Copy Samples
Porter County Tourism Bureau
SIDEBAR QUOTE:
“There are few places on our continent where so many species of plants are found in
so small compass…this is in part because of the wide diversity of conditions
prevailing there.” Dr. Henry Chandler Cowles
COPY:
He was the first “eco-tourist” and his destination of choice was Northwest
Indiana. An internationally renowned botanist from the University of Chicago, Dr.
Henry Chandler Cowles first visited the Indiana Dunes in 1896. Until he retired
as chairman of the botany department in 1934, he and his students conducted
extensive field research in the region. His dedication to deciphering the
bewildering diversity of plant life in the area led to the naming of Cowles Bog in
his honor.
SIDEBAR
“Botanically, the Indiana Dunes are a floral melting pot…one may find
plants of the desert…rich woodlands…pine woods…swamps…oak
woods…and prairies together in such abundance as to make the region a
natural botanical preserve.” Dr. Cowles
Dr. Cowles innate fascination with the complex system of dependency and
interaction that makes up our natural environment made Dunes Country even
more enticing for him. The Bog that bears his name is a lush carpet of
vegetation, four to ten inches thick, floating over a pond whose malleable surface
causes the bog to quake with every step. The Doctor’s lifelong quest to identify
the botanical elements of this slice of natural history, as well as his studies of the
changes the area was undergoing as part of its evolution, helped earned him the
title: The Father of Ecology.
It is not hard to imagine that, during his many trips to the Dunes, Dr.
Cowles watchful eyes noticed the rich texture of natural habitats and wildlife
intermingling with his beloved flora. The eco-system that was first spawned by
glaciers and then by the receding waters of Lake Michigan is indeed unique and
fascinating. Whether you’re a serious student of natural science, a casual
appreciator of nature’s beauty or have interests that lie somewhere between, the
ecological wonders of Porter County, Indiana will stimulate your spirit and soothe
your soul.
We invite you to explore, as Henry Cowles first did more than 100 years
ago, the elemental wonders that make Porter County one of the most unique
places on the planet.
To appreciate this unique landscape, it helps to understand how it was formed.
Glaciers
At one time, glaciers covered 70% of North America. These massive
sheets of ice crept southward across the continent in four great waves. The last
of these, the Wisconsin Glacier, reached as far south as central Indiana. The
mile-thick glacial lobe that would become Lake Michigan rested heavily on the
land, crushing everything beneath it, scouring lakebeds from river valleys and
grinding mighty chunks of rock into smooth pebbles. During its journey, the
Wisconsin Glacier chiseled the foundation of the landscape that would become
Dunes Country. This happened 2 million years ago.
SIDEBAR: How Glaciers formed
In an area where more snow falls than melts, the snow accumulates. We
see this in the mountains and at the earth’s poles. The weight of the snow turns
the bottom layers to ice. As these ice layers increase, a glacier is born.
Moraines
About 16,000 years ago, the Lake Michigan lobe of the Wisconsin Glacier
stopped near what is today downtown Valparaiso. Glacial drift--the rocks and
soil picked up during this 2 million year journey--was deposited in a beautiful
band of rolling hills. This material is called “till.” The formation it makes is called
a “moraine.” Today, the Valparaiso Moraine hugs the southern tip of Lake
Michigan. The Indiana Dunes National Lakeshore, which stretches between Gary
and Michigan City, lies like the glistening smile of eons past between the moraine
and the lake.
Formation of the Dunes
The Lake Michigan beach was washed here from glacial till deposited on
the lake’s northern shores. Currents carry the sand grains southward along the
east and west shores to their new home at the lake’s southern tip. In the summer
you can see two sandy shadows just below the water’s blue surface—sandbars
that are a testament to the migratory nature of this restless landscape. By fall,
those sandbars will disappear as they merge with the beach.
In a process called “saltation,” the grains of sand are swept up by the wind
which sculpts them into the sometimes gentle, sometimes towering mounds we
know as dunes. There are two types of dunes: foredunes and blowout dunes.
Foredunes
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Precede blowout dunes
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Form parallel to and just behind open beach
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Average 50-75 feet high
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Formed when wind is obstructed by plants or other obstacles
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Eventually covered with vegetation and stabilized
Blowout dunes
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Formed when a disturbance—fire, bulldozer, etc.—rips plants off
stabilized dune
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Winds create a “bowl” in the sand
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Vegetation slides in from the edges
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Wind funnels out loose sand and creates a moving dune
PHOTO: Mt. Tom
At 192 feet, the highest point in the dunes: a stabilized, blowout dune.
Cowles Bog
COPY:
It was 1913. Ten European botanists were trying to determine what to see
on their upcoming trip to America. Dr. Henry Cowles, organizer of the
International Phytogeographic (plant geography) Excursion, asked them to pick
their sites. After careful selection, they identified four: the Grand Canyon,
Yosemite, Yellowstone and the Indiana Dunes.
While all four sites had scenic and scientific appeal, the Indiana Dunes
held a special attraction. It was here that Henry Chandler Cowles performed
scientific research that made the science of ecology familiar worldwide. For
Cowles, ecology was a science, not a cause. It’s purpose was “to consider the
mutual relations between plants (and animals) and their environment.” Dr.
Cowles did not create this science. But he illustrated the principles of ecology
more lucidly than anyone had done previously by showing how a succession of
plant communities transforms a bare sand dune into a site for a living forest.
When those ten Europeans came to America, one of their stops was the
University of Chicago, where Cowles had been teaching since 1897. Cowles told
them that he saw the Indiana Dunes as “a common meeting ground of trees and
wildflowers from all directions…here one may find the prickly pear cactus of the
Southwestern desert hobnobbing with the bearberry of the Arctic and Alpine
regions.” The botanists were skeptical about the claims of rich diversity until they
hiked through the dunes with Dr. Cowles as their guide. As they walked through
the succession of plant communities on sand, and witnessed the rich blend of
plant and animal life, they knew that Henry Cowles had laid the foundation for a
new and useful science.
SIDEBAR: It’s not really a bog
COPY:
Even in Dr. Cowles time, there was great discussion about the actual
nature of Cowles Bog. By definition a bog has mineral-poor and highly acidic
water which promotes the growth of the acid-loving plants which dominate this
habitat. Cowles Bog is actually considered a fen. There is a break in its bottom
clay layer that allows minerals dissolved in the groundwater to flow into it. This
source of fresh water does not provide the proper environment for the rarer acidtolerant plants found in bogs.
The truth is that the bog was named for Dr. Cowles before detailed
studies were completed. In fact, his notes from the 1913 excursion describe the
area as part of a valley “ now characterized chiefly by a fen vegetation.” Cowles
Bog remains a living and growing tribute to the man whose name it bears.