New Conservation Discovery Web Application to Help Connect Landowners with Conservation Options
(BLOOMINGTON, IN) The Conservation Law Center is excited to announce a new resource is now available for landowners within the Southern Indiana Sentinel Landscape. The Conservation Discovery Web Application will increase awareness and access to conservation options to help landowners effectively and sustainably manage their lands.
This interactive web tool is based on publicly available parcel data similar to other GIS websites. People can locate a property by searching for the landowner’s name, property’s address, or by zooming into the parcel and selecting it. The user can then select from several conservation interests and sub-interests based on their land management goals. These interests include cropland management, erosion control and soil health, forestry, livestock pasture management, permanent land protection, tax incentives, water quality, wildlife habitat, and technical assistance. The web tool will generate a custom property report that includes the conservation options available for the individual parcel as well as relevant contact information for conservation professionals.
“Throughout my career working in Indiana it has been quite clear that people are often unaware of the options for their land when it comes to conservation. Furthermore, they can quickly become overwhelmed when trying to sort through endless online materials. What we have done here is to create a one-stop-shop for landowners to learn more about the conservation programs available to them, as well as who they should talk to,” said Michael Spalding, Southern Indiana Sentinel Landscape Program Coordinator.
The Sentinel Landscapes Partnership is a coalition of federal agencies, state and local governments, and non-governmental organizations that works with private and public landowners to protect training and readiness on southern Indiana’s military installations, conserve land for agriculture and sustainable forestry, improve water quality, create and restore wildlife habitat and ecosystems, and support rural economies. In 2022, the federal government designated the 3.5-million-acre Southern Indiana Sentinel Landscape (SISL), one of only ten in the country at that time, recognizing the critical importance of southern Indiana’s four military installations and the area’s rich natural and agricultural heritage. The four critical Department of Defense installations and ranges that are the cornerstones of the Southern Indiana Sentinel Landscape are Naval Support Activity Crane, the Lake Glendora Test Facility, Atterbury-Muscatatuck Training Center, and the Indiana Air Range Complex.
The application can be accessed through a link on the Conservation Law Center’s website at https://conservationlawcenter.org/sentinel or directly at https://www.sisl.org/.
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Contact:
Andrea Lutz
Email: andlutz@iu.edu