Linking Community and Nature 
On the Michigan Lakeshore

Northwest Indiana is home to some of the rarest habitats and most unique ecosystems in the Great Lakes region of the United States. The southern Lake Michigan lake plain contains three Tier 1 Conservation Targets, defined by The Nature Conservancy as “globally significant elements that occur only in the Great Lakes ecoregion or are limited in distribution outside the Great Lakes to one or two ecoregions” — mesic sand tallgrass prairie, lakeplain wet prairie and lakeplain wet-mesic tallgrass prairie.

Such impressive biodiversity manages to coexist alongside a high density of industrial facilities. Large operating facilities, such as United States Steel Corporation’s Gary Works and BP’s Whiting Refinery, along with smaller facilities, including USG Corporation’s East Chicago Facility, ConocoPhillips’ East Chicago Tank & Pipe Line Terminal and ExxonMobil’s Hammond Tank Terminal constitute lands with some of the best examples of valuable natural habitats on industrial areas on the Indiana Harbor and Grand Calumet River.

Aerial view of the Indiana Harbor and Ship Canal on Lake Michigan in Northwest Indiana. Copyright © 2005 GlobeXplorer, LLC.

The Northwest Indiana Office is implementing a grant from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Great Lakes National Program Office, focusing on private-public collaborations that restore the ecology of industrial properties on the Lake Michigan Basin. The project area spans the Grand Calumet River, which is designated by the United States and Canada as one of 43 Great Lakes Areas of Concern (AOC).

The Grand Calumet River, originating in the east end of Gary, Indiana, flows through the heavily industrialized cities of Gary, East Chicago and Hammond. The majority of the river’s flow drains into Lake Michigan via the Indiana Harbor and Ship Canal, which consists of one of the most biologically diverse areas in the United States.

Despite the challenges of conservation and restoration in an urban-industrial AOC, corporations, along with state and federal agencies are making progress in working collaboratively for the benefit of people and wildlife. Several active facilities in this region owned by WHC members are in the process of managing or restoring the biodiversity of urban-industrial habitats on their properties.

Another major undertaking called the Gary Green Link Master Plan will help the City of Gary protect and celebrate its natural resources. The Gary Green Link project is a plan for the formation and management of a natural resources greenway and recreation corridor that will ring the City of Gary, connecting the Grand Calumet River, Little Calumet River and Lake Michigan’s shoreline. Some areas have already established trails like the Indiana Dunes National Lakeshore. These trails would be linked to new trails and roads designated for biking, as well as to the precious open space that is to be protected within the city. Groundwork Gary will work collaboratively in this effort in the development of additional trails and signage. Groundwork is an international network that helps communities build upon their existing assets to eliminate environmental poverty and become vibrant, healthy and safe places. WHC is working with Groundwork Gary sitting on the Board of the Directors, and providing critical support and biological advice. Groundwork is also engaged in working on city-wide clean-ups, native landscaping and pocket park development.

City of Gary Department of Environmental Affairs/Wolff Clements and Associates, Ltd. Gary Green Link Master Plan, February 2004.

The Nature Conservancy in Indiana. “Southern Lake Michigan Rim.” 2006.