Central Indiana Land Trust (CILTI) works with willing landowners to protect, recover, and preserve their properties and natural landscapes. Members place a large emphasis on collaborating with the community surrounding these lands. As a small nonprofit organization, CILTI relies heavily on volunteers—that’s where HLG comes in.
We arrived to Oliver’s Woods Nature Preserve on a beautiful Friday morning. The property, which encompasses 53 acres of land near Keystone at the Crossing, was donated to CILTI by a generous family. The nature preserve is still a work in progress and is not yet open to the public. The property includes wooded areas, prairie-savanna restoration, and frontage along the White River. Unfortunately, the area along the river is sandwiched between the riverbank and a road. The amount of garbage that is thrown out of car windows onto the property is appalling. In addition to “normal” litter such as water bottles, plastic bags, and soda cans, we also found items that would surprise you—a couch, a TV, beer and liquor bottles, big chunks of blue Styrofoam, DVDs, and more.
It was heart-warming to see how invested our staff was in getting every single piece of trash picked up. We were crawling under bushes, sliding down the riverbank, and climbing up an interstate ramp so that we could be sure to get the job done properly and leave that beautiful piece of nature better than we found it. HLG takes a genuine pride in our environment and volunteering with CILTI is one way we demonstrate those values.
