Sandhill cranes that have flocked by the thousands each spring and fall to Jasper-Pulaski Fish and Wildlife Area have discovered Indiana Dunes National Park’s Great Marsh.
Save the Dunes Program Director Katie Hobgood said it’s not just a matter of the birds choosing one wetland over another. “We are seeing increased population numbers overall, over a long-term trend,” she said. “Their numbers were extremely low, and now we’re seeing a resurgence.”
“We have not seen them in these numbers in modern history,” Hobgood said.
Sandhill cranes are large birds that have traditionally stopped in Northwest Indiana to rest and refuel during their long migration.
Hobgood encourages birders to go look at the sandhill cranes while they’re at the Great Marsh. “Look at the birds. They’re so cool.”
“It’s very important that people park in the offered areas” and not try to see the birds up close, she said. There are parking lots along Mineral Springs Road to stop at and trails that go through the area. “Definitely stay on trails and not just stopping in the middle of the road.”
The Cowles Bog parking area is probably the closest. “If you’re doing the actual trail at Cowles Bog, it has so many ecosystems,” meaning don’t wear your best dress shoes. “It’s a really, really fun but challenging trail,” ending up at the beach, but there’s a shorter loop for people who might not wish to try the longer trail.
People who visit Jasper-Pulaski Fish & Wildlife Area will find a clearly marked sandhill crane viewing area with binoculars in place at the viewing platform to watch the birds feed and do their distinctive mating dance.
At the Great Marsh, take your own binoculars and, if you want photos, a zoom lens.
The giant birds are in their element there.
Understanding the Great Marsh’s attraction requires a brief history lesson.
“The Great Marsh was originally this 4,000-acre wetland complex going across our region,” Hobgood said. What the Great Kankakee Marsh was to the Kankakee River area, the Great Marsh was to areas near Lake Michigan. “It was just this massive wetland complex.”
“The hydrology was changed by development around the marsh,” she said.
A cranberry farm was developed in the 1800s, then a golf course in the early 1900s, then communities developed.
“The wetlands have been taken over by some woody vegetation but also invasive species,” Hobgood said.
That began to change in 1998, when the National Park Service and its partners began doing restoration work.
Over more than 25 years, more than 300 volunteers installed more than 734,000 native plants to restore 1,100 acres of the Great Marsh.
“That looked a lot like invasive species removal. There was a lot of plug planting to add in the native plants that should have been in those areas,” Hobgood said. Big machinery was brought in to do this work.
“The Great Lakes Restoration Initiative is a really incredible funding source” for this, Hobgood said, so Save the Dunes advocates for it every year in Washington, D.C.
“This is a perfect success story.”
Doug Ross is a freelance reporter for the Post-Tribune.
