News

A Seed of Change: The Start of NICHES Land Trust

20th century environmental conservation efforts in our community fought for decades to prevent dams on the Wildcat and Big Pine Creeks, with success with state de-authorization of the dams in 1977 and later by Congress. Efforts to protect land in the region continued with The Nature Conservancy’s state chapter, the Wildcat Creek Foundation, and dedicated others. But urban development pressures continued to threaten natural areas, and the community still had limited public access to natural places for education, appreciation, and enjoyment.

On July 29, 1994, Harry Potter, Persis Newman, and Susan Ulrich met in the Sociology Conference Room at Purdue University to compare notes and discuss what a land trust was, what it would take to start one, and whether such an organization would be useful in west-central Indiana.

The seed of this pivotal meeting had been planted several years earlier when George Parker, a professor in the Purdue Forestry Department, asked Susan Ulrich if the Sycamore Audubon Society Chapter had ever considered becoming a land trust. (They had not.)

Providently, in 1993, Gerda Kohnke and son Peter, asked the Audubon Society to accept a conservation easement on the Kohnkes' forested Little Pine Valley property in Warren County. The family loved the property and wanted to preserve it. However, the Audubon Society was not set up to handle conservation easements – a function usually served by a land trust. Regardless, Audubon members supported the idea and agreed to accept the easement since there was not yet an organization who could protect the land.

Then in 1994, Wal-Mart announced it would be building a store adjacent to the recently proposed Celery Bog Wetland Park. This park had stirred a lot of positive interest in West Lafayette, and the arrival of Wal-Mart was greeted with dismay and led to a number of community meetings.

It was obvious at those meetings there were people and landowners who wanted to permanently protect open space but had no way to do so or group to work through. Susan Ulrich asked the question George Parker had asked her earlier: had anyone thought about starting a land trust? Harry and Persis immediately volunteered to form a committee, thus the July 1994 meeting. After that first get together, the three expanded the committee by inviting others with an interest in land protection to join them at additional meetings that included representatives from Sycamore, Central Indiana, and ACRES Land Trusts. These meetings inspired the local group by giving them a chance to see what a local land trust could become.

The Sycamore Audubon Society (SAS) used their March 1995 Conservation Program to promote the idea of starting a land trust. The meeting was publicized and a sign-up sheet passed around. Meetings were held to write bylaws. The name “NICHES” came from Harry Potter and seemed appropriate since the group hoped to save a niche here and a niche there to preserve some of the wonderful biodiversity of this area. Bob Bauman, a local attorney, handled incorporation pro bono and his firm helped with the 501(c) 3 filing. NICHES needed $450 to cover the fee charged by the IRS. SAS stepped up and raised the money at a bake sale. Thanks to the IRS’s surprisingly quick approval, NICHES was up and running as a not-for-profit by October 1995. The official “come out” and announcement of NICHES existence was delayed until Earth Day in 1996.

What has happened since then has been incredibly rewarding. Landowners looking for options to protect their land have donated or willed properties to NICHES. People wanting to protect habitat but who had no way to work towards this goal previously, joined and contributed funds and volunteer time. By the end of 1996 NICHES had 56 members along with two donated properties totaling 24 acres. 30 years since incorporation NICHES now has more than 1,000 members, manages nearly 5,000 acres of land (including lands from 30+ donations), has an 8-person staff, is an accredited land trust, and viewed as the regional leader in the stewardship of natural areas.