Salt Creek Valley history open house set
BLOOMINGTON — People with family history or interest in the Salt Creek Valley area are invited to attend an open house at Paynetown State Recreation Area from 1 to 5 p.m. on Sunday, July 7.
Monroe Lake is in the midst of a long-term project to document and map the history of the area, which stretches across southern Brown County, southeastern Monroe County, northwestern Jackson County, and the northeastern edge of Lawrence County. People are invited to stop by during the open house at the Deer Run Shelter at Paynetown to learn about the research project, view some of the resources collected, and contribute their history and stories to the project.
Visitors can check out maps of historic sites in the valley area, look through print resources, search the genealogy database, and view historic photos.
The park is also actively collecting information on historic sites and family histories. Visitors are welcome to bring in their own photos, maps, and other documents on the Salt Creek Valley area to be scanned and added to the collection.
Paynetown SRA is located at 4850 S. State Road 446 in Bloomington. There is a $7 fee per vehicle with Indiana license plates to enter the property or an Indiana park annual pass can be used.
Swim lessons offered at state park pool
The Brown County State Park Pool will offer swimming lessons at three levels beginning Monday, July 8 from 11 to 11:35 a.m. Classes meet daily and end Friday, July 19.
Preschool (3 to 5 years old): Focuses on introduction to the water and improvement of safety and comfort in the swimming pool. Children will learn elementary skills, including water entry, bubble blowing, flutter kick, backfloat, underwater exploration and more.
Beginner (6 years or older): For participants who are taking swim lessons for the first time. Emphasis is on water adjustment, swimming readiness skills, basic safety, floating, kicking and arm strokes.
Intermediate: For children who are confident in the water and know basic swimming skills. Arm position, leg exercises and breathing will be practiced.
Classes are $60 per child and include a free park pass during swim lessons. Parents and guardians are asked to observe outside the fence after dropping off their child.
Sign up at the Brown County YMCA, 105 Willow St., or call 812-988-9622.
Kayaking trips offered at Monroe Lake
BLOOMINGTON — Space is still available in Monroe Lake’s July kayaking trips, which will launch into the north fork of Salt Creek.
There will be a morning trip at 9 a.m. on Tuesday, July 9 and an evening option at 7 p.m. on Wednesday, July 17. The trips are 2 to 2 1/2 hours in length.
Each trip is limited to 10 people and restricted to ages 16 and up. All participants must have at least 2 hours of prior paddling experience of have completed one of Monroe Lake’s Intro to Kayaking workshops.
The trip fee is $10 per person. Kayak rentals are available for an additional $20 fee, if you do not have your own boat.
For the July 9 trip, you must register at bit.ly/explore-7-09-19 by July 5.
For the July 17 trip, you must register at bit.ly/explore-7-17-19 by July 14.
Trips highlight views, hidden wildlife, aquatic plants, and unique land features and typically go through backwater areas that are less well known.
Learn biking basics at Hard Truth Hills
DNK Presents will host a series of Busted Knuckle Co-Ed Bike Clinics at Hard Truth Hills, 418 Old State Road 46, which began June 15. The next session is Saturday, July 13 from 10 a.m. to noon. Learn skills from Kate Nolan, a certified professional mountain biker and Trek bicycle women’s advocate.
The fee is $50 per person and includes the two-hour clinic and a drink at Hard Truth Hills after the session. Discounted bike rentals are available through Bicycle Station Columbus if needed.
Upcoming clinic dates and topics include:
July 13: A Wheel Raising Good Time
Aug. 3: Drop It Like It’s Hot, Roll Downs & Drops
Sept.: 14: Feel the Flow, Pumps & Jumps
For more information, visit dnkpresents.com.
Mountain biking club forming for local teens
Incoming junior high and high school students are invited to join a new mountain biking club being organized through the National Interscholastic Cycling Association.
The coed team will be coached by Brown County resident Kate Nolan, a certified mountain biking instructor and co-owner of adventure company DNK Presents. Assistant coaches and volunteer parents will be needed to lead rides at practices and/or help in other ways.
Practices will take place on Mondays and Wednesdays at Brown County State Park between July and September. Races will take place in September with other Indiana teams.
If interested in learning more, contact Nolan at [email protected] or 317-445-7155. A private Facebook group is being set up to share information and updates on the club.
One Acre Nature Club meeting at Paynetown
BLOOMINGTON — The One Acre Nature Club at Monroe Lake is for people who want to slow down, take a closer look, and really get to know nature. Over the course of the year, members develop a true sense of place by repeatedly exploring the same 1-acre section of land, with a different focus for each visit.
New members are welcome to join at any time during the year. While there is no formal age limit, the club is recommended for adults, teenagers and older elementary students (must attend meetings with an adult).
To join the club, send an email to Jill Vance, Monroe Lake’s interpretive naturalist, at [email protected] at least four days before the first club meeting you wish to attend.
The club meets at 10 a.m. on one Sunday each month at Paynetown State Recreation Area for 60 to 90 minutes. Meetings take place entirely outdoors, rain or shine. Remaining meeting dates in 2019 are July 21, Aug. 18, Sept. 15, Oct. 13, Nov. 17 and Dec. 15.
Paynetown SRA is at 4850 S. State Road 446 in Bloomington.
Monthly hike will be at McCormick’s Creek
SPENCER — All are welcome to join the monthly DNK Wild Women’s Hike at McCormick’s Creek State Park in Spencer Saturday, July 27 from 10 a.m. to noon. The entry fee to the park is $7; the hike is free. The group will meet at the Wolf Cave parking area for an approximately 2-mile hike.
DNK Presents is an outdoor adventure company based in Brown County. For more information, visit DNK Presents’ Facebook page, @dnkpresents, and click “events.”
High conservation status requested for area forests
Indiana Forest Alliance scientists have submitted a proposal to the Indiana Department of Natural Resources that would protect the 2,380-acre backcountry area of Morgan-Monroe and Yellowwood state forests from future logging. The proposal calls for the backcountry area to be designated a “High Conservation Value Forest” (HCVF), and managed to allow old-growth forest to return to the area.
High Conservation Value Forest is a protective designation defined by the international Forest Stewardship Council, a sustainable forestry auditing agency.
IFA officials also presented the proposal to Gov. Eric Holcomb. “Governor Holcomb has assured us that he will read and consider this proposal. The public will also have a chance to comment on the proposal according to the IDNR’s guidelines,” said IFA Executive Director Jeff Stant.
Leslie Bishop, professor emerita from Earlham College and lead author of the proposal, said the forest characterization data show that the backcountry area is developing characteristics of secondary old-growth forests, areas that have regrown such that the effects of previous deforestation are minimally evident.
“Old-growth forests are extremely under-represented in the state forests, with only 2 percent of these forests being 140 years or older,” said IFA Conservation Director Rae Schnapp. “The Division of Forestry has committed in its strategic plan to manage 10 percent of the state forests to reach older forest conditions, but so far has set aside only 2 percent of these forests from logging. This HCVF designation will help the division meet its commitment,” Schnapp said.
Between 2014 and 2018, the IFA conducted an Ecoblitz, a series of surveys, in a 900-acre section of the backcountry area to document the species present. The surveys, led by scientists from 13 Indiana colleges and universities, revealed a rich diversity of flora and fauna, cataloging more than 3,100 species. Many insects are still being identified by Hanover College’s insect laboratory due to the lack of taxonomy experts for many of the insects found in this forest.
The surveys also found seven bat species living in the forest, six of which are listed as federally endangered or threatened, or species of special concern in Indiana, the IFA reported.
“Our surveys also revealed pygmy and smoky shrews, rare mammals that live only in undisturbed mature forests in Indiana, and more than 10 timber rattlesnakes and two dens of this state endangered animal. We found deep forest birds, such as the cerulean, worm-eating, and hooded warblers, that are endangered or rare in Indiana successfully nesting in this forest,” Bishop added in a press release from the IFA.
Women’s Live Adventurously Weekend planned
DNK Presents will lead a Women’s Live Adventurously Weekend in Brown County State Park Aug. 9 to 11. It will include backpacking and several options of other activities including yoga, canoeing/kayaking, mountain biking, Leave No Trace or wilderness medicine lessons, or “adventuring as a parent.” Women also will talk to the group about how the outdoors has impacted their lives.
The cost is $295, which includes access to all workshops, primitive camping as a group, food and camping gear (first-come, first-served).
For more information or to register, visit dnkpresents.com.
