Nature Conservancy Restores Giant Cane Along Wabash River in Posey County
Your Wild Cane Once Part of Southern Indiana's Landscape
 
POINT TOWNSHIP, POSEY COUNTY, INDIANA — December 15, 2008 — The Indiana Chapter of The Nature Conservancy has started an unusual restoration in southwestern Indiana—to try and restore giant cane into a few locations in the region where it once fluorished.
Wild giant cane (Arundinaria gigantea) is a member of the bamboo family and can reach a height of up to 10 feet. In pre-settlement days, southern Indiana had vast areas of wild giant cane. In some areas along the Ohio and lower Wabash rivers it formed what were known as cane brakes so thick it was almost impossible to walk through. These cane brakes were home to a variety of wildlife that used them for habitat, including cougars, black bears and bobcats.
Today these massive cane brakes are long gone. Only a few scattered areas of cane still occur in Indiana—less than 2% of its former coverage. In 2004, The Nature Conservancy acquired a parcel of land totaling 220 acres in Posey County in extreme southwestern Indiana. Their objective was to establish a rather unique floodplain forest, including an area containing giant cane.
“The Nature Conservancy is one of the first to do cane restoration in Indiana,” said Chad Bladow, stewardship coordinator for the Conservancy’s Indiana Chapter. “We first planted giant cane in 2007 as part of a bottomland forest restoration on Conservancy lands at the Ohio-Wabash Confluence in Posey County.” According to Bladow, the cane brakes harbor several mammal bird and insect species, including Swainson’s Warbler, the swamp rabbit, the golden mouse, and the canebrake rattlesnake. In addition, six butterfly and several moth species also use the cane brakes for habitat.
In 2008, the Conservancy greatly expanded the original cane planting, using what they learned in 2007 about how to dig, transport, and transplant cane, as well as where it grows best on the site. The Conservancy’s vision for the area is for it to return to a bottomland hardwood forest with cane brakes scattered throughout, thus increasing habitat for the many animal species.
Just last month, in November of 2008, Conservancy staff worked with Eco Logic (a restoration company based in Bloomington) and local landowner Scott Keach to harvest and plant 311 additional clumps of giant cane.
“The Conservancy appreciates all of the planning and hard work of Eco Logic on this project,” said Bladow. “We believe the timing of the planting and special steps taken for watering and weed control will help assure the long-term viability of the transplanted cane.” Bladow also credited the assistance of landowner Keach.
The cane planting was funded in part by the Igleheart family of Evansville. The Igleheart donation also allows for maintenance of the plantings.
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The Nature Conservancy is a leading conservation organization working around the world to protect ecologically important lands and waters for nature and people. The Conservancy and its more than 1 million members have protected nearly 120 million acres worldwide. Visit The Nature Conservancy on the Web at www.nature.org. Photos © The Nature Conservancy.
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