Another Sycamore Land Trust property has been designated as a state-dedicated nature preserve.
Barnebey Woods in Owen County became the ninth Sycamore Land Trust preserve to receive the designation that not only gives it special recognition but adds more protection against future land use.
The 160-acre property was owned by Karl Barnebey and Laura Fredendall. Barnebey, of Terre Haute, told The Herald-Times in 2024 — after he had sold the land to Sycamore Land Trust — that he first bought a cabin and 80 acres and continued adding acres to it throughout the years, with his wife, children and grandchildren enjoying walks through the woods and to the waterfall that runs in wet weather.
A little more than 141 acres of the total Barnebey Woods land are in the state-designated nature preserve. The boundaries of the dedicated portion were chosen to protect a single contiguous forest block that is not bisected by roads, according to Kate Hammel, communications director at Sycamore Land Trust.
“State dedication of Barnebey Woods will add meaningful protection to a place that holds tremendous ecological value for southern Indiana,” said Alex Sienkiewicz, executive director of Sycamore Land Trust, in a news release. “We’re grateful to everyone who helped make this possible.”
Barnebey never logged the property, which he purchased to stop deforestation on the land. It now has a mature, upland forest with beech trees that are approaching old-growth size. (The minimum old-growth threshold for an American beech is 12 inches at 4.5 feet above ground level.)
Four streams on the Barnebey Woods preserve flow in wetter months with several flowing into ravines, including an 8-foot-tall waterfall with rock overhangs on both sides.
Barnebey Woods Nature Preserve is not open to the public to protect the sensitive natural area, including walking ferns and other plants as well as small earthsnakes, spotted salamanders and eastern box turtles.
The nature preserve fills in one of the gaps next to the public lands of Owen-Putnam State Forest, providing more protected land that serves as a corridor that wildlife can use as they migrate. It also benefits plant species that may be slowly edging northward as the average temperatures in the area increase.
The property’s streams drain into the nearby East Fork of Fish Creek, which drains into the West Fork of the White River. Conserving the land ensures the water in those stream — and downstream rivers — remains unpolluted.
A nearby property with a Sycamore Land Trust easement, Fish Creek Conservation area, is located along Fish Creek to the south, adding more land that will not be developed.
Future plans for the nature preserve may include the addition of trails. No timeline for any projects on the property have been made.
Contact Carol Kugler at ckugler@heraldt.com.
This article originally appeared on The Herald-Times: 141 acres in Owen County designated as state-dedicated nature preserve
Reporting by Carol Kugler, The Herald-Times / The Herald-Times
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