The Indiana Natural Resource Commission has approved the state’s first underwater nature preserve.  Near the shore of Indiana Dunes State Park and just 28 feet under the waters of Lake Michigan lies the remains of a ship called The JD Marshall, which sank in 1911.  The ship and the 100 acres surrounding it will now be called the J-D Marshall Preserve.  Mike Molnar is the director of the DNR’s Lake Michigan Coastal Program.

The site is open for diving and will be used to educate Hoosiers on the history and conservation of Lake Michigan shipwrecks.