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Natural Resource Stewardship
Land Stewardship
Indianapolis has a long tradition of active stewardship of its public lands. For over a century, Indy Parks has faithfully maintained, protected, and managed Indianapolis' "Green Infrastructure". This essential part of the city's infrastructure consists of the network of public and private open space, parks, woodlands, wildlife habitat, and other natural areas – as well as the greenways and river corridors that connect them.
IndyParks is steward to over 11,000 acres of public greenspace that not only provides world-class recreational opportunities, but also conserves and enhances the natural ecosystem services in our city – naturally and actively working to clean Indianapolis' air and water, as well as to reduce the urban "heat island".
In 1993, Indy Parks created the Land Stewardship Section to manage natural resource areas within the parks system. These areas are strategically managed to maximize valuable ecosystem services provided to the city, as well as ensure the natural diversity – and health – of our urban ecosystems for generations to come.
Since its inception, Indy Parks Land Stewardship has worked with dedicated volunteers to establish, restore, and manage over 750 acres of public natural resource areas. These true "natural public resources" include over 130 acres of native prairie plantings, more than 150 acres of reforestation areas, 5 acres of lake edge enhancement plantings, 7 acres of open woods plantings, and over 45 acres of wetlands restoration.
In addition, Land Stewardship has worked to restore over 400 acres of public woodlands through "enrichment" plantings of native tree species and control of invasive exotic species such as garlic mustard and amur "bush" honeysuckle that threaten to degrade the quality and diversity of our forests.
IndyParks takes its responsibility as stewards of the public land seriously, and is continually striving to improve its efforts. This year, it will plant an additional 60 acres of native prairie, and plans to convert an additional 150 acres of turf grass to natural resource areas over the next four years.
Parks and open space, through their natural functioning, have a significant impact on city-wide efforts to keep our air and water clean, our children healthy, and our neighborhoods vibrant.
Environmental benefits of Indy Parks Land Stewardship initiatives include:
• Cleaner Air: Natural areas filter pollution from our air, including fine particulate matter, ozone, sulfur dioxide, nitrogen dioxide, and carbon monoxide.
• Cleaner Water: Natural areas absorb and filter pollutants such as nitrogen, phosphorus, potassium, and polluted particulate matter that would otherwise pollute our streams.
• "Natural" Flood Control: Natural areas reduce stormwater runoff, which not only reduces pollution, but also reduces the peak water flows that strain the capacity of stormwater treatment facilities. Native prairie plants have roots up to 30 feet deep, which facilitate a greater amount of surface water being "soaked up" into the soil and recharging groundwater sources. In addition, wetlands can store a significant amount of floodwater, reducing the intensity and frequency of flooding in surrounding areas.
• Cooler Urban Temperatures: Cities get hot! Trees, parks, and open greenspaces help to cool down the "urban heat island". This can reduce energy usage in surrounding buildings. Also, because air pollution is worse at higher temperatures, the cooling effect of natural areas actually reduces the effects of air pollution.
• Maintaining Biodiversity in Natural Areas: "Biodiversity" simply means the diversity of life in natural ecosystems. Diverse ecosystems are healthy ecosystems. They are much more able to recover from stressors such as invasive exotic species or changes in climate. Healthy ecosystems will continue to provide us with their valuable ecosystem services – such as cleaner air, cleaner water - for many generations to come.
• Doing Our Part for a Healthier Planet: Through the process of "carbon sequestration" trees and other vegetation in natural areas actively remove global warming pollutants from the atmosphere, helping to make Indianapolis a part of the global solution to climate change.
Urban Forestry
Urban forestry is the care and management of tree populations in urban settings for the purpose of improving cities and metro neighborhoods.
Trees are a critical part of the urban infrastructure. Urban foresters plant and maintain trees, support appropriate tree and forest preservation, conduct research and promote the many benefits trees provide.
The benefits to planting trees are numerous, but they are especially important in urban areas. Trees improve the aesthetic beauty of the concrete and steel-driven City landscape, introducing colors, textures, and contrasts. Trees can frame desirable views, or block the unsightly ones.
But more than being attractive, trees provide many other benefits to City dwellers. They reduce water pollution and mitigate both air pollution and greenhouse gases. They can also help us save energy, increase property value, provide wildlife habitat, and benefit human health.
With this in mind, Indy Parks Land Stewardship has reforested over 150 acres within Marion County since 1993. In addition, the City of Indianapolis is working to expand its current urban forestry efforts through expansion of plantings, and by considering changes to planning and zoning requirements and policies on landscaping and construction.
One key initiative in this plan is Neighborwoods, a Keep Indianapolis Beautiful, Inc. program developed to plant 100,000 trees over the next 10 years in Indianapolis. Mayor Peterson serves as one of two honorary co-chairs of the program.
The Tree Board
The Indianapolis/Marion County Tree Board was established by Mayor Peterson in recognition that the quality of life in Indianapolis directly correlates to the quality of the natural environment, and to ensure that the city has the appropriate quantity and quality of trees.
The Tree Board is charged with monitoring the urban forest, providing tree-related educational opportunities, recommending potential tree-related policy revisions and creating any needed tree-related ordinances. The Tree Board will work in conjunction with the citywide NeighborWoods initiative to ensure Indianapolis' tree canopy is healthy and appropriately maintained.
Currently, the board is focusing on four key tree-related issues:
- Review of city rules and policies for their effect on trees;
- Improper procedures by commercial tree services;
- Trees in utility corridors;
- A tree canopy/tree conservation ordinance.
The Tree Board consists of 12 members with a range of knowledge and experience regarding trees and their care. The nine voting members were appointed by the Mayor and include:
Michael Baldwin, Indianapolis Power & Light Company
Paula Baldwin, Marion County Soil & Water Conservation District
Robert Barr, Center for Earth and Environmental Science at IUPUI
Mary Favors, Garfield Park Neighborhood Association
David Forsell, Keep Indianapolis Beautiful, Inc.
Mary Ellen Gadski, Meridian Kessler Neighborhood Association
Tanya Marsh, Kite Development
Phil Ping, Ping's Tree Service
Joseph Wiesinger, Shrewsberry and Associates
Non-voting members of the Tree Board represent three City departments:
Victoria Cluck, Department of Public Works
Don Colvin, Department of Parks and Recreation
Keith Holdsworth, Department of Metropolitan Development
The Board typically meets on the second Tuesday of each month at 5:00 p.m. at the Garfield Park Conservatory.
Tree Board Meeting Minutes 01/09/07
Tree Board Meeting Minutes 03/13/07
Tree Board Meeting Minutes 4/10/07
Tree Board Meeting Minutes 5/22/07
Tree Board Meeting Minutes 6/12/07
Tree Board 2006 Annual Report
Water Quality
Good water quality is essential for every area of life. Natural areas – an essential part of Indianapolis' Green Infrastructure – work to keep our water clean by reducing stormwater runoff and actively filtering out pollutants, Through its Land Stewardship Office, IndyParks has made a long-term commitment to actively manage, protect, and restore the natural areas which help to improve our water quality, as well as reduce the peak water flows that strain the capacity of stormwater treatment facilities.
Unfortunately, these efforts alone are not enough. Many of central Indiana's waterways remain troubled by sewer overflows, failing septic tanks and pollution.
The Indianapolis Clean Stream Team's mission is to restore area streams and encourage public participation in the process. The Clean Stream Team oversees projects to prevent raw sewage overflows into our waterways, eliminate failing septic systems, and improve flood control and drainage. The team includes staff from the Department of Public Works and many private sector partners.
From 2000 to 2006, the mayor's Clean Streams-Healthy Neighborhoods program has spent, encumbered or obligated $273 million to reduce sewer overflows and improve our sewer system and treatment plants. For example, the new flow equalization basins at the Belmont and Southport Advanced Wastewater Treatment Plants prevented more than 550 million gallons of sewage from overflowing into the White River during the first nine months of 2006. Other sewer improvements are reducing overflows by more than 145 million gallons in a typical year. Overflows will be reduced even more as the city continues to implement its long-term control plan, which was accepted by state and federal regulatory agencies in 2006.
As the largest investment in clean water infrastructure in state history, the Clean Streams-Healthy Neighborhoods program will bring noticeable benefits to our neighborhoods and our economy. These benefits will include a dramatic reduction in overflow volume and frequency, 18,000 fewer septic tanks in Marion County, improved neighborhood flood control and drainage, healthier urban streams, and opportunities for new jobs and economic development.
The City of Indianapolis started a Raw Sewage Overflow Notification Program in the spring of 2002 to inform and educate the public of the health impacts and potential dangers associated with sewage in waterways through an email list server, telephone hotline and signs posted on waterways at various locations throughout the City. This program notifies the public of the potential occurrence of and hazards associated with sewage contamination in the waterways of Marion County.
To receive notification of sewage overflow, click here. Or for more information on the Indianapolis Clean Stream Team and its waterway cleanup efforts, visit www.indycleanstreams.org.
Land Conservation
According to Branches Magazine, 87 percent of Hoosiers feel that more needs to be done to protect Indiana's natural resources. Yet Indiana ranks 48th in the nation on environmental indicators such as air quality, energy consumption and state spending on the environment.
Less than 4 percent of Indiana's land is set aside for conservation and outdoor recreation, putting us 46th in the nation for conservation. And despite our state's long and proud history of agriculture, we are losing our farms at an alarming rate due to commercial and residential development. From 1997 to 2002, Indiana lost 500,000 acres and 6,400 farms, much of it to urban sprawl.
In response to these startling trends, the City is narrowing its focus on land conservation efforts geared toward protect land and water resources for the public benefit.
There are many reasons to embrace land conservation. Even in Indianapolis' most urban settings, athletic fields, municipal parks, stands of trees and historic sites are valuable community assets that make a place desirable to live and work. Conservation also has a positive impact on air, noise, light, water and land pollution.
IndyParks and the Environment
Indianapolis is a wonderful place to live, work, and play! Anyone who enjoys jogging along the Monon trail, experiencing their child's joy at the neighborhood playground, or watching birds flit along Eagle Creek Park's wooded trails knows that City parks and greenways are a central part of the Indianapolis experience.
As Indianapolis citizens seemed to understand naturally when they acquired Garfield Park in 1873, parks and open space are essential parts of the urban landscape. These days, the many social, environmental, and economic benefits of parks are well understood. The Trust for Public Land estimates that US parks provide around $10 billion in valuable benefits to their local communities.
Indy Parks has the privilege of maintaining and managing over 11,000 acres of open space in Marion County for the benefit and enjoyment of Indianapolis residents - now and for many generations into the future. Since 1993 we have worked hard to restore more than 750 acres of natural areas, including prairie, wetland, degraded woodland, and reforestation areas. An estimated additional 700 acres of parkland is considered to be "high quality" forest, which Indy Parks actively maintains so that its benefits can be enjoyed by future generations.
Parks take on even more importance in rapidly urbanizing cities such as Indianapolis. According to IUPUI research reported by the local non-profit organization Keep Indianapolis Beautiful (KIB), Indianapolis lost 25% of its tree cover between 1962 and 1993. In response to public interest and support, Indy Parks seeks to acquire "high quality" wooded areas and other appropriate properties with tree cover to maintain in perpetuity. In fact, we have relied upon strategic alliances, donations, and other funding strategies to acquire more than 375 acres of parks land in the last 5 years – all with no formal budget for land acquisition.
Indianapolis Parks and Recreation works in partnership with other City departments, under the leadership of Mayor Peterson, to protect the environment in Indianapolis. Parks and open space, through their natural functioning, have a significant impact on city-wide efforts to keep our air and water clean, our children healthy, and our neighborhoods vibrant. In 2006, Mayor Peterson and Senator Lugar announced the NeighborWoods program – an initiative led by KIB to plant 100,000 trees in Indianapolis by 2016. Indy Parks is one of several major partner organizations contributing to this effort. So far, more than 4,000 trees have been planted. Indy Parks also provides high-quality opportunities for our youth to learn about their natural environment through hands-on volunteer opportunities and a wide-array of environmental education programs.
City parks, greenways, and open space shape the character of Indianapolis. They help keep our children, neighborhoods, and environment healthy. They raise property values and are important in attracting new residents and business. They give us a beautiful place to relax, reconnect, and recharge. Natural open spaces have extremely high public value in a rapidly urbanizing environment. With the support of a public that increasingly appreciates the importance of its natural environment, Indy Parks has the privilege of maintaining over 11,000 acres (and growing!) of open space for Indianapolis residents to enjoy for many generations into the future. Thank you!
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