Earlier this year, the Trust awarded the Indiana Chapter of The Nature Conservancy a $160,000 two-year grant for its Brown County Hills Project. This funding supports community education and landowner outreach efforts to conserve and enhance the natural environment of the Brown County Hills region. Furthermore, this continues the Trust's previous investment ($90,000) in this project last year by beginning implementation of the conservation site plan that was completed during 2003.

The first award to The Nature Conservancy helped the agency hire a land protection specialist and establish an office in Nashville, Indiana, laying the groundwork and developing a site plan to protect the Brown County Hills region, the largest forest conservation target in the area (approximately 300,000 acres). The project also initiated discussions for land acquisitions and easements and engaged in limited stewardship activities.

The second grant aims both to educate people about the benefits and importance of the Brown County Hills' complex forest system and to conserve forested habitats within the region that are critical to the protection of its biodiversity. The project will focus on two educational components. The community education component will provide information to the general public about the importance of the natural areas in the region and include species-specific messages (such as safe human-snake interactions). This will be accomplished through brochures, newsletters, information kiosks in Brown County State Park, educational presentations and a portable professional display for various public venues (libraries, fairs, etc.). Furthermore, as a pilot project, TNC will develop an environmental educational CD-ROM that meets Indiana education standards and targets middle-school children (grades five through eight) for distribution to schools.

The Indiana Chapter has two major goals for the Brown County Hills project. First, it plans to protect wildlife within the region, particularly endangered species that are indigenous to south central Indiana. Second, the project will increase the opportunities for citizens of central Indiana to interact with a wilderness area of significant size. Millions of individuals visit the area annually to take advantage of its natural beauty and recreational opportunities.