Some conservation projects must patiently wait for years until the circumstances are just right to act. Others suddenly appear on a real estate listing, and the window of opportunity is gone in mere weeks. Busseron Creek was like the latter, requiring swift and nimble action.
A landscape at risk
In late 2022, CLC’s Southern Indiana Sentinel Landscape team spotted a 191-acre parcel in Sullivan County listed for sale on the open market. It was part of a larger holding of nearly 4,000 acres owned by American Land Holdings of Indiana, a subsidiary of Peabody Energy. Much of that land had once been part of Minnehaha Fish & Wildlife Area.
The land sits where the western tallgrass prairie meets the central hardwood forest. Its bottomland forests, marshes, and upland habitat support wildlife you won’t find in much of the state, and its wetlands help filter water and hold back floodwaters. It lies very close to the U.S. Navy’s Lake Glendora Test Facility, part of Naval Weapons Station Crane, where compatible land use nearby supports the Navy’s mission.
If Busseron Creek had been sold in pieces, that unique and biodiverse landscape could have been fragmented for good.
Moving quickly, then building the partnership
CLC worked with a willing landowner and realtor to take the parcel off the market. The Conservation Fund (TCF) stepped in with immediate funding to secure the land for future public ownership and negotiated the transaction. Leveraging CLC’s strategy, legal expertise, and connections, the project was able to grow from the original 191 subdivided acres to the full 3,950 property.
In addition to TCF’s original contribution, final funding came together from:
- The Department of Defense’s Readiness and Environmental Protection Integration (REPI) program, through the U.S. Navy
- The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service’s Pittman-Robertson Wildlife Restoration Program
- The Nature Conservancy
- The State of Indiana
- The National Fish and Wildlife Foundation, through Walmart’s Acres for America program
The effort took more than two years. In December 2024, the partners announced that 3,950 acres, valued at more than $12 million, were permanently protected as Busseron Creek Fish & Wildlife Area. The Indiana DNR’s Division of Fish and Wildlife now manages the property for wildlife habitat, clean water, flood protection, and outdoor recreation.
“This project exemplifies what can be accomplished when organizations unite under a shared vision.”
— Michael Spalding, Southern Indiana Sentinel Landscape Coordinator, Conservation Law Center
What a sentinel landscape does
Sentinel Landscapes are places where federal agencies, states, and local partners work together to keep working lands and natural areas intact around military installations. The approach is voluntary and serves several goals at once: wildlife habitat, farms and forests, and the military’s ability to train and test.
CLC coordinates the Southern Indiana Sentinel Landscape, which surrounds Naval Weapons Support Crane, the Lake Glendora Test Facility, and Atterbury-Muscatatuck. Busseron Creek shows how the model works: one landscape, many partners, and protections that serve conservation and national security alike.
Why legal capacity matters
Behind every acre conserved is careful legal work: title questions, purchase agreements, funding conditions, and the timing that holds a complex deal together. Land trusts and conservation partners can’t always carry that load alone. CLC provides that legal foundation free of charge, so the next opportunity doesn’t slip away.
Related: Read the 2024 announcement
Watch: Field Notes, Episode 2
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