Fern Station

Overview

Fern Station is a stunning unbroken forest, the largest piece of land ever protected by CILTI. It offers unparalleled forest interior habitat for wildlife. Dominated by white oak, beech and hickory trees, the area is rich with woodland species, including wood thrush, Acadian flycatcher, and Northern parula. Red-shouldered hawks also make their homes here, along with an extremely high-density population of Kentucky warblers.

In addition, Fern Station is a sanctuary for rarer species, such as cerulean, worm-eating, and hooded warblers; broad-winged hawks; and Eastern box turtles. With creeks loaded with amphibian life, the lushly wooded ravines support a rich understory of native shrubs. Countless species of ferns thrive here, including maiden hair, broad beech, fragile, glade, sensitive, Christmas, silvery spleenwort, and crested ferns.

This nature preserve is open for arranged tours and events led by CILTI and our partners. It will be fully open for the public to explore in the future.

History of the Property

Fern Station is the largest project in CILTI’s history, both in terms of size and cost. We began working to protect this gorgeous property in spring 2008, when staff first walked it. In the intervening years we worked with the landowner, Joe McCurdy, to protect many acres in Parke County through conservation easements. In 2022, the State of Indiana’s Next Level Conservation Trust pledged $3.1 million toward acquisition of Fern Station. CILTI donors contributed more than one million dollars to purchase Fern Station and protect it forever.

The purchase was made possible by these partners: The Efroymson Family Fund, The Herbert Simon Family Foundation, The Silicon Valley Community Foundation, The Meyer Family Fund, The Sam Shine Foundation, The Nature Conservancy, The Putnam County Community Foundation, Indiana Native Plant Society, and the Amos Butler Audubon Society, as well as CILTI’s generous members.