Conservation Hall honorees announced

Indiana DNR Release:

Seven individuals and one couple selected from nearly 90 nominations will form the 2010 class of the Indiana Conservation Hall of Fame.

The members are Glenn A. Black, Garrett Eppley, Irene Herlocker-Meyer, William Temple Hornaday, Alton A. Lindsey, Dick Mercier, Herb and Charlotte Read, and Jim Ridenour.

“These people have dedicated their lives to the conservation of our natural and cultural resources and we are honored to recognize their accomplishments,” said Bourke Patton, executive director of the Natural Resources Foundation.

The 2010 inductees will be celebrated at the Conservation Hall of Fame Banquet and Induction Ceremony on Sept. 17 at The Garrison at Fort Harrison State Park. Tickets are $75 and available by calling (317) 234-5447 or ordering online at www.IndianaNRF.org.

Inductees include:

–Glenn A. Black, Indiana’s first professional archaeologist, who identified thousands of Native American archaeological sites in Indiana and extensively studied Angel Mounds.

–Garrett Eppley, who served as chair of the Indiana University Department of Recreation, where he helped develop Bradford Woods and influenced recreation and outdoor education.

–Irene Herlocker-Meyer, who worked for a decade to protect Indiana’s last remaining grassland, Hoosier Prairie Nature Preserve. She also was a founding member of the Save the Dunes Council and a life trustee of the Indiana Chapter of The Nature Conservancy.

–William Temple Hornaday, who revolutionized how museums display mounted wildlife and is credited with saving the American bison and Alaskan fur seal from extinction. His prolific writings contributed to the conservation teachings of the Boy Scouts of America.

–Alton A. Lindsey, who was the professor of Forest Ecology at Purdue University from 1947– 1973, helping found the Ross Biological Preserve. Lindsey is credited with helping found Indiana Dunes National Lakeshore and Pine Hills and Big Walnut nature preserves.

–Dick Mercier, who founded the Indiana Sportsmen’s Roundtable, which actively lobbies and supports hunters’ rights and hunter education programs.

–Herb and Charlotte Read, who began their involvement with the Save the Dunes Council in 1952 and continue to influence conservation through service on the Indiana Heritage Trust Project Committee and on local land trusts.

–Jim Ridenour, who was director of the Indiana Department of Natural Resources from 1981-1989, and director of the National Park Service from 1989-1993. He also is credited with helping Jamaica create a national park system.

Created in 2009, the Indiana Conservation Hall of Fame recognizes individuals, living or deceased, who have made extraordinary contributions to the conservation and preservation of Indiana’s natural and cultural heritage. Individuals must have a strong tie to Indiana and have impacted a wide range of natural or cultural resources and their use. Each nominee is judged by his or her own merit, in the historical setting of the time in which they lived.