Endangered, native plants and critters flourish on rare Grass Lake marl flat

A stunningly unique habitat of native, endangered species flourishes on ACRES Land Trust’s recent acquisition eight miles southeast of LaGrange. The 102-acre Grass Lake property contains a marl prairie – an unusual mix of acid-hungry plants and basic soil-loving plants growing heartily atop the limestone-rich sand and gravel. Some say the marl is almost 30 ...

Curtain now going up on nature’s grand show

The curtain is going up on the greatest show on earth. Its nature’s display of spring wildflowers. And we have ringside seats, because the most beautiful display of spring wildflowers in the world is found in the American Midwest. Actually the curtain parted over a month ago, but few people recognized that the show had ...

2nd Annual Bird Blitz: Count Yourself In

Celebrate the preserves and have fun helping ACRES track bird species. You’re invited to count birds, either as an individual or on a team, on any ACRES preserve from June 3 – June 9. Register here: acreslandtrust.org/birdblitz by Friday, May 18. New for 2018 New to birding? If you’re looking for pointers before blitzing, enjoy a Birding for ...

The Next 199 Years

Something life-changing happened to Indiana native Kevin McKelvey in 2006 in Costa Rica. After a frustrating search for an elusive bird, he returned to the United States with a new perspective on wildlife, people, and place. Enjoy McKelvey’s fascinating tale as part of the backstory of ACRES’ 200-year Ecological Reflections initiative at Wing Haven Preserve. ...

ACRES acquires land appraised at $3 million, reaches 1,000 Cedar Creek acres protected

ACRES Land Trust recently completely acquisition of 193 acres of Cedar Creek land appraised at $3 million, leveraging a matching award from Indiana’s Bicentennial Nature Trust. With the latest acquisitions, ACRES now permanently protects over 1,000 acres of the  largest natural feature extending through Allen and DeKalb Counties. In total, the local nonprofit recently reached ...

Restoring land to protect ecosystems

“In the last three years, ACRES has planted 65,000 native hardwood trees, reforesting 100 acres, while battling non-native invasive plants on over 700 acres. In the next three years, while managing this ongoing restoration, I’ll begin the work on an additional 300 acres.” – Casey Jones, Director of Land Management In land conservation, we sometimes ...

Welcome Spring!

Land Preservation, Conservation, and Succession

Ecological oases are isolated postage stamps of biological richness surviving in a vast landscape of monocultures controlled by blade or plow. As we locate and preserve these remaining oases—these hidden gems, we realize they have progressed for years through a dynamic ecosystem striving to protect itself from periodically emerging environmental impacts. Conserving land by preserving ...

ACRES Welcomes New Board Members

Non-profit organizations cannot function without dedicated, engaged board members. Giving back through board service is a great way to support ACRES’ mission, and we are incredibly grateful for all of our current and past board members. ACRES would like to welcome our newest board members: Bob Hake, Marc Levy, Stan Moore and Janel Rogers. Bob ...

Attract, Evaluate, Refine: ACRES’ 2018 – 2019 Strategic Plan

2018 – 2019 Strategic Plan – ACRES Land Trust ACRES has remained relevant and strong for the past 57 years, but its leadership does not take it for granted that doing what we did in the past will necessarily be the best approach for success in the future. This strategic plan challenges the organization to ...