“Tom and Jane Dustin built a legacy from this home,” the bold headline at the top of the commemorative panel reads. As you stand among the tall trees, listening to the music of the preserve, you can see that legacy is thriving still today. The Dustins helped launch ACRES Land Trust. Inspired by the budding …

On Saturday, April 23, ACRES, with help from friends, families and neighbors, will begin replanting more than 20,000 native trees, reforesting 36 acres of cropland on its Blue Cast Springs nature preserve near Woodburn, Indiana. Using dibble bars, flat shovel-length ergonomic tools provided by the land trust, and expert guidance, volunteers of all ages are invited …

  September 29, 1914 – Journal Gazette

By Tom Castaldi Travel east nineteen miles from Fort Wayne into Maumee Township on U.S. 24 heading for the Indiana-Ohio state line, and you’ll pass near Blue Cast Springs. Back in 1901, New Haven resident Henry Schnelker was attracted to an 87-acre plot with a flowing mineral spring, and he decided to purchase the land. …

The land is protected. Species are inventoried; footbridges installed. Eager explorers are standing by. Spring Lake Woods and Bog, a 107-acre northwest Allen County nature preserve protected by ACRES Land Trust, is about to open – nearly fifty years after being identified as a significant natural area by preservation experts. To celebrate its preservation and the …