The Goshen Board of Public Works approved a bee and butterfly sanctuary at the city-owned south Wellfield during their Monday, Dec. 11 meeting. Grasslands and wildflowers, like the ones that will be planted there, are essential to the survival of insect populations.

News Release

GOSHEN — The Goshen Board of Public Works approved several contracts for a bee and butterfly sanctuary at the city-owned south Wellfield during their Monday, Dec. 11 meeting.

Sustainability and Environmental Specialist Alexa Kennel stressed the importance of maintaining grasslands along with trees, as grasses are necessary for the survival of insect populations.

The property is located on CR 27, south of Waterford Mills Parkway and North of the Goshen Municipal Airport. It has approximately 70 acres, but only about 26 acres will be used for the wellfield itself, with the ability to expand in the future if need be. Another 48 acres of the land will be used by the Department of Environmental Resilience to create a habitat for local pollinators.

Goshen City Forester Aaron Sawatsky-Kingsley cited the benefits of this kind of project. Aside from just providing a habit and food source for pollinators, the space won’t require mowing after a certain point, sparing the cost and emissions usually required of mowing a large expanse of land.

Kennel contacted the Bee & Butterfly Habitat Fund hoping to apply for next year’s grant cycle, as this year’s deadline had already passed, but was informed that the city could still apply and a habitat could be installed by January at the latest. In order to make the project happen, Kennel sought to supplement the sparsely available seed mix from the Bee & Butterfly Habitat Fund. After acquiring funds from a U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service grant and the National Wild Turkey Federation, she was able to purchase more seeds from Spence Restoration Nursery of Muncie.

The plants native to the U.S. at large and to the region include purple coneflower, black-eyed Susans, milkweed, Monarda, rosinweed, Indiangrass, switchgrass and more. According to Kennel, these plants won’t need to be irrigated or fertilized. In fact, adding fertilizer could cause certain types of plants to grow too quickly and choke out other species. In soils with less maintenance and more disturbance, plants that have evolved to withstand harsh conditions will grow, allowing for more diversity.

Maintenance on the property will consist of only three mowings next year to take out weeds while the wildflowers are taking root. Burnings are prescribed every few years. According to Sawatsky-Kingsley, this fits with their climate action plan, both creating a habitat that will sequester carbon dioxide and other emissions and showing a model for land maintenance without constant mowing.

The project is expected to cost approximately $28,000 in its entirety, with about $7,200 paid by the city next year. Over $14,000 of the $16,000 in seed is covered by grants, leaving the city with $2,000 in seed, along with the cost of restoration and application of the seed by Blue Heron Natural Lands Restoration.

Kennel stated plans may one day include a walking trail, but the public will be invited to visit once the site is established.

This will be the largest restoration project Goshen has ever done. While there are prairie restoration projects at Abshire Park and Reith Environmental Center, this is the biggest of all. The city also plans to put a tree sanctuary on the property. Because of the Fish and Wildlife grant, Goshen must commit to 10 years of maintaining the space as a wildflower habitat.