Ball State University will ask the state of Indiana to designate a parcel of old growth forest it owns as a state nature preserve.  IPR’s Stephanie Wiechmann explains.

Ball State presented a study of what Ginn Woods contains in 1998. (Graphic: Ball State University)

Twenty minutes north of Ball State University in the Mississinewa River Corridor lies the 161 acres of Ginn Woods, the state’s second largest protected old-growth forest.  The Ginn family from Ireland settled on the land in 1830 and did not clear it or allow livestock to graze on it.  Ball State acquired it from the family in 1971.

John Taylor with Ball State says it’s now a great educational resource for students.

“Ginn Woods has been a valuable destination for field trips, at least since the 1950’s.  And it’s so critical for our students precisely because of how rare high-quality remnant natural areas have become, especially in this part of the state.  Two hundred years ago, Delaware County was almost entirely forested.  Now it’s about three percent forest, and those are tiny forest fragments.”

In asking for a state nature preserve dedication, Ball State would still retain ownership of the forested wetland.  It would still be able to use the land for research.  But if it were going to be altered in any significant way, Indiana Department of Natural Resources would have to be consulted.  And Taylor says if someone was caught poaching on the land, the offense would be a state-level one.

Ball State trustees voted to approve the application.  If designated a nature preserve by the state, it would be the second in Delaware County, joining the old Girl Scout camp called Munsee Woods near the Prairie Creek Reservoir.