Education Guide
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Indiana Dunes Country Education Guide Dunes Water PMS: 3145 CMYK: 100/33/36/5 RGB: 0/122/148 HEX: 007a94 Dunes Sand PMS: 403 CMYK: 44/40/46/5 RGB: 146/139/130 HEX: 938b82 Dunes Grass PMS: 5535 CMYK: 81/55/68/59 RGB: 31/55/49 HEX: 1f3731 Dr. Henry Chandler Cowles “T here are few places on our continent where so Themany species Father of plants of areEcology found in so small compass... this is in part because of the wide diversity of conditions prevailing there.” –Dr. Henry Chandler Cowles Dr. Henry Chandler Cowles was the first “ecotourist”, and his destination of choice was Indiana Dunes Country. An internationally-renowned botanist from the University of Chicago, Dr. Cowles—pronounced “coals”—first visited the Indiana Dunes in 1896. Until he retired as chairman of the botany department in 1934, he and his students conducted extensive field research in the region. His dedication to deciphering the bewildering diversity of plant life in the area led to the naming of Cowles Bog in his honor. Dr. Cowles’ innate fascination with the complex system of dependency and interaction that makes up our natural environment made this area even more fascinating for him. Dr. Cowles’ lifelong quest to identify the botanical elements of this slice of natural history, as well as his studies of the changes the area was undergoing as part of its evolution, helped earn him the title The Father of Ecology. It is not hard to imagine that, during his many trips to the dunes, Dr. Cowles’ watchful eyes noticed the rich texture of natural habitats and wildlife intermingling with his beloved flora. The ecosystem that was first spawned by glaciers and then by the receding waters of Lake Michigan is indeed unique and fascinating. Whether you’re a serious student of natural science, a casual appreciator of nature’s beauty or have interests that lie somewhere between, the ecological wonders of Indiana Dunes Country will stimulate your spirit and soothe your soul. We invite you to explore, as Dr. Cowles first did more than 100 years ago, the elemental wonders that make Indiana Dunes Country one of the most unique places on the planet. 2 Indiana Dunes Country Education Guide A Natural Wonder This guide will give you a taste of the natural treasure of biodiversity that is the Indiana Dunes, as well as an abundant Indianalist of resources to helpDunes you satisfy your Country desire for more. Table of Contents 4 5 Geological History 6 The Three Distinct Regions 8 Human History 10 Biodiversity 12 Habitats Indiana Dunes 13 National Lakeshore 14 Indiana Dunes State Park 15 Porter County Parks & Recreation 16 Indiana Dunes Visitor Center 18 Accommodations 19 Indiana Dunes Country Map Educational and 19 Volunteer Opportunities Indiana Dunes Guides Indiana Dunes Country Education Guide 3 Geological History Glaciers At one time, glaciers covered 70 percent of North America. Glaciers are formed in an area where more snow falls than melts, allowing the snow to accumulate over a long period of time. We see this in the mountains and at the earth’s poles. The weight of the snow turns the bottom layers to ice. As these ice layers increase, a glacier is born. In our case, beginning two million years ago, massive sheets of ice crept southward across the continent in four great waves. The last of these, the Wisconsin Glacier, reached as far south as central Indiana some 28,000 years ago. The mile-thick glacial lobe that would become Lake Michigan rested heavily on the land, eroding Foredunes the soils and rock beneath it, scouring the north flowing river bed that existed before glaciation. When the ice melted, a large lake formed between the glacial moraines of • Precede blowout dunes Northwest Indiana and the retreating glacier. Ancestral Lake Michigan was formed • Form parallel to and just behind 14,000 years ago. So during its journey, the Wisconsin Glacier laid the foundation for open beach the landscape that would become Northwest Indiana. • Average 50-75 feet high • Form when wind is obstructed by About 16,000 years ago, the Wisconsin Glacier stopped and retreated northward to plants or other obstacles south of what is now downtown Valparaiso. Glacial drift—the rocks and soil picked • Eventually cover with vegetation up during this journey—was deposited in a beautiful band of rolling hills. This and stabilize material is called “till.” The formation it makes is called an “end moraine.” Today, the Valparaiso Moraine Region rests between the Dunes Region to the north and the Blowout dunes Kankakee Region to the south. • Form by winter storms when intense north winds and waves Nature’s forces continue to shape Indiana Dunes Country, primarily in the Dunes rip dunes apart Region. Lake Michigan’s currents carry the sand grains southward along the east • Also form when a disturbance— and west shores to their new home at the lake’s southern tip. In the summer, you fire, bulldozer, etc.—strip plants can see two sandy shadows just below the water’s blue surface—sandbars that are a from stabilized dune testament to the migratory nature of this restless landscape. By fall, those sandbars • Winds create a “bowl” in the sand will disappear as they merge with the beach. • Vegetation slides in from the edges • Wind funnels out loose sand and can In a process called “saltation,” the grains of sand are swept on shore by the wind, create a moving dune building them into the sometimes gentle and sometimes towering mounds we know as dunes. There are two types of dunes: foredunes and blowout dunes. 4 Indiana Dunes Country Education Guide The Three Distinct Regions of Indiana Dunes Country While glaciers shaped all of Indiana Dunes Country, the Located along the southern tip of Lake Michigan, the Moraine Region showcases their phenomenal earth- Indiana Dunes attracts millions of visitors each year, but moving power. Picture a force of nature a mile high and many only know its beautiful beaches. Theas wide asMoraine your eyes can see. Region That was the power of The Dunes Region the Wisconsin ice sheet as it pushed slowly south from Just beyond the beaches lie some of the world’s largest Canada, reaching central Indiana. The enormous glacier lakeshore dunes, created by the successive lowering gathered immense amounts of debris—from sand to giant of lake levels, producing three ancient shorelines and boulders—as it scraped over the land. As the climate today’s shoreline, which formed some 1,500 years ago. warmed about 16,000 years ago, the glacier melted back Lake currents and the wind also formed, and still form, to the north, depositing debris as it retreated. the beaches and dunes. An incredible variety of plants and wildlife make their homes among the dunes and the The debris formed the hills, known as glacial moraines, surrounding grassland, wetland, woodland, and open- and other features people see today when visiting sites water habitats. like Pinhook Bog and Taltree Arboretum. Walk the West Beach Succession Trail in Portage and you’ll start on a bare sand beach and end in an oak forest, tracing a process in nature that took thousands of years. The process, called succession, involves a group of plants and animals in a particular place gradually Four glaciations took place in Indiana Dunes Country— being replaced over time by other, very different ones. the last glacier being the Wisconsin Glacier, which The concept of succession was introduced by Dr. Henry melted about 16,000 years ago. The meltwater formed the Chandler Cowles after he visited the dunes, and now the TheKankakee Kankakee River and its surrounding Region wetlands—hundreds dunes is known as ecology’s birthplace. of thousands of acres. An unimaginable abundance of wildlife lived in these marshes, prairies, and woodlands. You may also want to hike Indiana Dunes State Park’s renowned trails, one of which takes visitors to 192-foot That landscape changed dramatically in the early 1900s Mount Tom, climb Mount Baldy or enjoy—and learn as marshlands were drained and converted to agriculture, about—the many other great dunes region sites. the Kankakee channelized, and prairies plowed. At several sites within the Kankakee Region, you can see impressive remnants of this native landscape—from the Jasper-Pulaski Fish and Wildlife Area, where tens of thousands of Sandhill Cranes gather during fall migration, to Kankakee Sands, where The Nature Conservancy has restored 5,000 acres of wetlands and prairie. IndianaIndiana Dunes Dunes Country Country Education Education Guide Guide 5 4 Human History The Potowatomi Tribe The Potowatomi tribe of Native Americans arrived in the area around 1700. They hunted deer, turkey, quail, ducks and geese. The fertile rivers and wetlands were thick with muskrat, mink, beaver and otter. In the marshes, they gathered wild rice and cranberries. From the sand hills, they plucked grapes, blueberries, strawberries and plums. In the frosty cold of early March, they tapped sugar maples for their sweet syrup. To complement this natural bounty, they planted and harvested corn, beans and squash. Indiana Dunes Country’s first inhabitants arrived about 10,300 years ago, after the last Theglacier retreated. Hunters Like all those to follow, they came for the rich bounty the land had to offer. In their case, it was mammoths and mastodons that they hunted with stone tools. Archaeological remnants indicate they were the first of many indigenous cultures to lay claim to the area. Soon after, the French fur trappers found their way to this region of rich resources. The Earlyfirst groups Settlerssettlers would soon follow. Among the first, in 1822, was Honore Gratien Joseph Bailly de Messein, who moved his family to Indiana Dunes Country from their home in Parc aux Vaches on the St.