The Indiana Department of Natural Resources recently announced the addition of two new nature preserves.
Dewey Hickman Nature Preserve is 125 acres located in Harrison County. Mary Gray Nature Preserve is 38 acres in Fayette County. These additions bring the state’s total number of preserves to 287.
Indiana’s impressive nature preserve system wouldn’t be what it is today if not for Father Damian Schmelz.
Father Damian was one of the most unique and interesting conservationists I have ever met. He was a monk and priest of St. Meinrad Archabbey in St. Meinrad, Indiana. He died on June 12, 2016, at the age of 84, but he left a legacy of preservation on
the natural world of Indiana like few others, and an impression on me that will last my lifetime.
Father Damian was ordained to the priesthood on May 3, 1958. But being a priest was only part of who he was. He earned a bachelor’s degree in philosophy and a baccalaureate in sacred theology from St. Meinrad College. He then went on to earn a master’s and doctorate in ecology from Purdue University.
Father Damian was a distinguished member of the Indiana Academy of Science. He gained membership in 1966, served twice as chairman of the Academy’s Plant
Taxonomy Section, and also served as the Academy’s treasurer and president. He was the Academy’s representative to the Indiana Natural Resources Commission for 33 years.
Nature preserves were of incredible importance to Father Damian, especially old-growth forests. He co-authored “Natural Areas of Indiana.” This definitive book was published in 1969 and served as a guide for the creation of Indiana’s natural preserve system. In 2000, an addition to the Donaldson’s Woods Nature Preserve was dedicated in his honor.
Father Damian told me the incredible story of how he came to lead the effort of establishing controlled deer hunts in Indiana state parks. With his ecological training and thorough knowledge of forest management, he and many other scientists concurred deer populations had to be reduced, but the work convincing the public to allow for hunting inside the parks was not going to be easy.
He grinned when he told me he knew they put him in charge because it was thought people would be less likely to verbally attack a priest.
There is a stark difference between conservation and preservation. Conservation is the wise use of our natural resources. It affords us the ability to manage populations of wildlife and ecosystems so they perpetuate into the future. Conservation allows us to harvest deer and keep fish for our dinner tables at a proper rate, so the resources never run dry. Harvesting mature trees and then planting more is conservation. Preservation is keeping something the same.
Nature preserves exist to maintain an ecological state of being without modification. It is important to have both conservation and preservation practices in place, and Indiana is doing a good job.
The last time I saw Father Damian, after I walked out of his home and was about to enter the passenger side of the vehicle I was riding in, he handed me a small picture of himself. It was just a wallet-sized headshot, like the ones you traded with your friends in elementary school. I like to think he did that because saw something in me, as I felt a profound connection to him.
The picture hung tacked to the wall next to my desk for years. When I moved, it was stashed in one of my safe keeping boxes somewhere. I’m going to find it, and hang it back up, because I can use a daily reminder of an ecological angel.
See you down the trail …
