Baseline Barrens Nature Preserve Indiana Department of Natural Resources—Division of Nature Preserves

Washington County, 70 acres
The preserve is one of the largest remaining examples of the Indiana Karst Barrens that were once common in Washington and Harrison Counties.  Baseline Barrens Nature Preserve is dominated by prairie grasses and forbs  while the woodlands are dominated by Post Oaks and Black Oaks.  There are also several rare species present on the property, including the Rough Green Snake, Englemann’s Addertongue Fern, and the endangered Mottled Duskywing Skipper. 

 This project involved biomass removal of 17 acres of mature Virginia Pine and Eastern Red Cedar to release an existing prairie remnant.  The goal was to expand the cover of New Jersey Tea (Ceanothus americanus), an important larval food plant for the rare Mottled Duskywing Skipper Butterfly. Great care was taken to avoid soil disturbance by utilizing a piece of equipment designed for sensitive areas.  The work was rewarded with large areas of native wildflowers blooming in the first season after the completion of the project and several new locations for Ceanothus.  A prairie planting with local genotype seed was installed on severely disturbed soil on the northern boundary of the property to help improve seed bank restoration in the former feedlot.