Sycamore builds two new wetlands in Monroe County at Oliver Preserve and the Sam Shine Foundation Preserve complex

Sycamore Land Trust, a nonprofit conservation organization protecting 11,727 acres in southern Indiana, has completed construction of two new wetlands in Monroe County, restoring vital wildlife habitat and improving water quality along Beanblossom Creek.

New wetlands constructed at Sycamore’s Oliver Preserve connected to Beanblossom Bottoms Nature Preserve, and at our Dan Efroymson Preserve connected to the Sam Shine Foundation Preserve, will help filter water, store floodwaters, and create essential breeding habitat for wildlife. Wetlands are among the most productive ecosystems on earth, but Indiana has lost 87% of its wetlands. This project restores former wetlands that were drained for agriculture. By restoring wetlands along Beanblossom Creek, Sycamore is improving water quality and strengthening the resilience of the entire watershed.

Drone photos by John Lawrence show where Sycamore worked with Stanger Excavating at Oliver Preserve to remove earth to create low-lying wetland areas. When soil is excavated, it creates shallow basins where water from Beanblossom Creek can collect and stay near the surface. These saturated conditions allow wetland plants to take root and provide habitat for wildlife adapted to life in and around water.

Restoring wetland habitat involves more than just digging low areas. Planting native wetland vegetation helps to stabilize the soil, filter water, and provide food and shelter for wildlife. Around the new wetland at Oliver Preserve, Sycamore’s land stewardship team planted more than 12,500 native trees grown by the Indiana DNR’s Vallonia Tree Nursery, using a tractor loaned by The Nature Conservancy. Sycamore’s staff and interns also planted over 2,200 native plant plugs by hand, grown from locally collected seed in Sycamore’s Native Plant Nursery. Using local seed ensures the plants grown for habitat restoration are better adapted to local growing conditions, making them stronger and more likely to survive. Sycamore plans to plant 2,000 more native plant plugs at Oliver Preserve and at the Sam Shine Foundation Preserve complex this fall.

The 61-acre Oliver Preserve in Monroe County was donated to Sycamore by Bill and Kathleen Oliver in 2024 and connects to Beanblossom Bottoms Nature Preserve, increasing the preserve complex to over 900 contiguous protected acres. Oliver Preserve borders the historic Cedar Ford Covered Bridge, Monroe County’s only covered bridge originally built by the Kennedy Brothers in 1885. The bridge spans the creek at the preserve’s southern edge, bringing Old Maple Grove Road across the creek. The new wetlands are visible from the road, offering the public a view of restoration in progress.

The new wetland at Oliver Preserve is funded in part by the USDA’s Wetland Reserve Easement (WRE) program administered by the USDA’s Natural Resources Conservation Service. This program helps landowners voluntarily restore, protect, and enhance wetlands on their property by providing financial and technical assistance to return previously altered lands to their natural wetland condition. Wetland restoration at the Sam Shine Foundation Preserve complex was funded in part by the Environmental Quality Incentives Program (EQIP), administered by the Natural Resources Conservation Service. Additional support for these projects were provided by Ducks Unlimited and Sycamore’s members.

Restoring wetlands is part of Sycamore’s long-term commitment to bring back balance and biodiversity to southern Indiana’s landscapes. The Beanblossom Creek Conservation Area is Sycamore’s ongoing project to protect and restore wetlands and other important natural areas in and along the floodplain of Beanblossom Creek, a major tributary of the West Fork White River. Beanblossom Creek runs through Monroe and Brown counties in south-central Indiana, serving as a watershed for the nearly 92 square miles that drain into it. Beanblossom Creek was Sycamore’s first focus area for conservation and continues to be a top priority for the organization. Sycamore has permanently protected 2,338 acres in the Beanblossom Creek Conservation Area, creating a habitat corridor that enables the movement of native plants and animals across a fragmented landscape. On land that Sycamore protects in the Beanblossom Creek watershed, over 20 endangered, protected, and special-concern species have been recorded, including the Indiana bat, Kirtland’s snake, cypress firefly, and many others.

“Our growing Beanblossom Creek Conservation Area shows what is possible when we work together for the health of the land,” said Jenny Stephens, Sycamore’s Board Chair. “Thirty years ago, Sycamore protected the first piece of land in this watershed. Our new wetlands at Oliver Preserve and the Sam Shine Foundation Preserve help to carry that vision forward.”

This project will build on the success of wetland restoration projects Sycamore completed in 2023 at the Sam Shine Foundation Preserve in Monroe County. Sycamore constructed over 60 acres of wetland habitat bordering Beanblossom Creek at Sam Shine Foundation Preserve, planting over 35,000 native trees and thousands of native wetland and wildflower plant plugs grown from local seed. Sycamore partners with the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service, the Indiana DNR Division of Fish & Wildlife, local universities, and other scientific researchers to monitor wildlife at Sycamore nature preserves along Beanblossom Creek, measuring the impact of our land stewardship and habitat restoration on ecosystem health.

“Restoration of the land is one of my favorite parts of the job. We get to actively participate in the rewilding of land,” said Chris Fox, Sycamore’s Land Stewardship Director. “To watch the ecological process play out as we convert a field into a forest or even a wetland is awe inspiring.

“Now that we have participated in several wetland construction projects over the past few years, we are just as excited and maybe even more so for these new wetlands. We know better how to build them and know more about what to expect but nature is anything but predictable. I am sure we will find many new discoveries as this land slowly becomes a naturally functioning part of the Beanblossom creek ecosystem.“