Coastal Services Center

Coastal areas are often as abundant in cultural and historic resources as they are in natural ones. Managers in Indiana are using a recently completed study to help focus attention and dollars on preserving the rich heritage of their state's coastal watershed.

"One of the unique things about the Indiana coastal watershed is that it has a strong regional identity," says Laurie Rounds, program manager of the Lake Michigan Coastal Program. "It's culturally connected because of the natural resources, and that's an important reason why we are taking a look at this."

The "Coastal Historic and Cultural Resources Study of the Lake Michigan Watershed" was completed in January, and provides the first in-depth look at the preservation needs of the coastal region's cultural and historic resources. Rounds says the study is bringing much-needed attention to the watershed, and the coastal program will use this growing interest to promote public and private partnerships to help protect and restore the region's cultural treasures.

Community planners also are being given the study to use as a tool to help manage growth. "We have a very urban watershed," Rounds explains, "and like everybody else, our coastal communities are growing at a really fast pace. Some of our historic sites are in trouble, not because of age, but because of the growth rate in our watershed. This is a tool that can help planners develop smart growth initiatives and maintain the character of their communities."

Rounds notes that the study is an important part of the Lake Michigan Coastal Program's efforts toward getting program approval from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA).

With local interest in preserving historic and culturally significant sites already high, Rounds says they wanted the study to "take a look at what was already going on, and the information that was available in order to evaluate what these efforts were, and how successful they might be."

After receiving a NOAA grant, the coastal program partnered with the state's Division of Historic Preservation and Archaeology to bring together a focus group of local experts to help complete the study. They came up with "a really long list of sites that represented the different settlement patterns," she says.

A consulting company was hired to help compile a geographic information system database about the cultural resources, and to break the list down into more manageable categories. The consultants also compiled all previously completed studies, community management plans, and development plans for historic resources in the three watershed counties.

"What the consultants found," Rounds says, "was that there was a lot of information about each specific resource. It was easy to find out how much something cost to build, who lived in it, and how long they lived in it, but there was no information on how to protect the resources and how to do it within a regional perspective."

Rounds says the coastal program has widely distributed the study, is developing a Web site that will enable local communities to update the database, and is working to expand the focus group to address local needs for the protection and restoration of coastal historic resources.

"We can now say that, yes, this is a distinctive cultural region and that there are opportunities here to capitalize on, such as developing cultural tourism," she says. "The study brings attention to the opportunities that exist for the region, and for Indiana."

To view a copy of the "Coastal Historic and Cultural Resources Study of the Lake Michigan Watershed," point your browser to www.state.in.us/dnr/lakemich. For more information, contact Laurie Rounds at (317) 233-0132 or lrounds@dnr.state.in.us.