Local non-profit to be host of first of a dozen family wilderness hikes

The Sycamore Land Trust and Bloomington Parks and Recreation are sponsoring on Saturday a Winter Wonder Hike through the wilderness of Yellowwood Farm.

Sycamore Land Trust is a nonprofit organization dedicated to conserving Indiana’s natural habitat and wildlife.

“This is the first of a dozen family hikes SLT will host this year,” Sycamore Land Trust Outreach Coordinator Erin Hollinden said. “We like to encourage older people to walk and talk with younger people in the great outdoors, to share insights and memories and wishes for the future of the land.”

Thirty participants will explore a one-mile loop trail through the fields and forests of the Yellowwood Farm conservation easement owned by Herbert Hoover, Hollinden said.

“He’s been a wonderful man to work with,” Executive Director Christian Freitag said of Hoover. “A life-long conservationist in his own right, he has been gracious enough to allow us to lead this kind of hike on his property multiple times.”

The upcoming hike was organized by Sycamore Land Trust’s Environmental Education Program, led by Environmental Education Coordinator Carroll Ritter.

“We hope to educate folks about some of the qualities of the natural places that we are involved with, show them the natural landscape that we are working with and provide them an appreciative outlook for experiencing the natural elements that we are protecting,” Ritter said.

Specifically, the program aims to engage young people in the science and history of Indiana’s natural environment, reaching more than 1,000 students this year alone, according to Sycamore Land Trust’s Web site, www.bloomington.in.us/~sycamore/.

“Children are going to be the stakeholders for land in the future,” Ritter said. “We want them to develop an appreciation for the land that remains in the beautiful southern part of Indiana and have a vested interest in how to protect it as they become adults.”

Established in 1990 as an all-volunteer organization, Sycamore Land Trust now manages 5,500 acres in 26 different counties across the southern half of Indiana, making it the fastest-growing conservation group in Indiana.

“If we are able to save 20,000 acres by the year 2020,” Freitag said, “we will literally change the natural history of Indiana.”

By conserving the natural habitat, Sycamore Land Trust is encouraging the reintroduction of animals that were once extinct in Indiana.

“Species that have been gone for decades, for generations, are starting to return to Indiana,” Freitag said. “We’ve got dozens of threatened and endangered species using our property. We are making a difference; it’s a neat thing to see.”

Sycamore Land Trust has received both local and national recognition. In 2007, the Sycamore Foundation of Indianapolis honored the group with an Indiana Achievement Award for best nonprofit organization. The same year, the National Arbor Day Foundation presented the organization with a Project Award for planting more than 50,000 hardwood trees in just nine years.

“I don’t really know how to save the rain forest. I don’t really know how to save the whales. But I know I live in southern Indiana, and I can devote my energies to helping keep that place nice,” Freitag said. “That’s a pretty powerful feeling to have.”