Bridge, guided walks on preserve plan
Huntingburg resident Michael Hayden, 16, designed the bridge, raised the necessary project funds, and is overseeing its installation as an Eagle Scout project.
By CANDY NEAL
Herald Staff Writer
HUNTINGBURG — While a steering committee lays out the goals for the Jeffers Nature Preserve, work already is being done at the preserve to implement them.
A 14-foot bridge is being installed across a deep drainage ditch on the preserve, a 30-acre tract of woods on the western shore of Huntingburg Lake. About 10 people worked on the installation for more than three hours Wednesday and will return this week to finish, steering committee member Angie McDonald said. The bridge is made of pressure-treated wood and uses railroad ties for the support.
Huntingburg resident Michael Hayden, 16, designed the bridge and is overseeing its installation as an Eagle Scout project. With the help of preserve steering committee member George McCormick, an independent forester and volunteer with the Patoka Lake Visitors Center, Michael researched and designed a bridge that would work in the nature setting and survive the weather.
“He was like my mentor when it came to the planning,” Michael said. “He knows a lot about environmental impact.”
Michael met with McDonald late last summer about his desire to do his Scout project at the preserve. He started his research in September. “It’s been a long process as far as the planning,” he said. “This has been a big part of my last year.”
That will help further the goals the committee detailed in a resource management plan for the preserve, which was drafted this week.
“The plan lays out in writing our objectives and strategies so that we have a framework to go by,” McDonald said. A part of the plan is to create a system by which people can volunteer to help, she said.
Four basic goals for the preserve are laid out in the plan: nature preservation, nature education, watershed protection (because the preserve is located next to Huntingburg Lake) and historical preservation.
“The main reason we wanted this plan,” McDonald said, “is that we wanted to get this right about how to best serve the needs of the preserve.”
In 2002, Albert Jeffers, who now lives in Illinois, donated the land, which was his family’s farmstead, to the Huntingburg Foundation. He stipulated that it be maintained as a nature preserve and not be developed. The preserve was dedicated in October 2007 and the foundation has been able to keep up the preserve’s entryway, parking area and signage. But a trail that had been marked and cleared wasn’t maintained.
McDonald, with the support of the foundation, led a meeting last summer to find volunteers interested in helping with the preserve. Volunteers have since cleared trails and hosted guided walks. A Facebook page has been created under the name Jeffers Nature Preserve that includes pictures and a list of upcoming events.
McDonald said that while plans are still being put in place, people are invited to walk the trails. More guided walks will be held, but people are welcome to walk on their own also. A complete walk takes about 20 minutes, she said. “It’s neat to be in the woods,” McDonald said. Lots of wildflowers are coming up. You can see trees that woodpeckers have excavated. The spring migration is happening, so there are lots of bird sounds out here.”
“It’s a nice way to see nature,” she said, “and it’s in our own backyard.”
For information or to become a volunteer, call McDonald at 683-9355 or the foundation at 683-5799.
Contact Candy Neal at
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