Group marks Rivers Initiative

TERRE HAUTE, Ind. (WTHI) - Conservationists and government officials from around Indiana gathered at Terre Haute’s Fairbanks Park Tuesday afternoon to mark the second anniversary of the state’s Healthy Rivers INitiative.

That initiative calls for 70,000 acres of land along the river to be turned into conservation areas that would not be open to development. That would create a 95 mile wildlife corridor along the river.

So far, officials said the state has placed 29,492 acres under protection.

Conservationists said creating such a corridor would give wildlife, particularly threatened or endangered species, room in which to live and move.

They also believe that lining the river with natural wetlands can help ease the threat of flooding.

“When you look at flooding … it’s the areas that are farmed up to the edge that have the most scouring and bad stuff happening,” said Mary McConnell of the Nature Conservancy.

State officials also hope that creating a corridor of wild lands around the river will draw tourists and other visitors from beyond Indiana.

For more details on the initiative, click here .