As part of its commitment to the residents of Hendricks County and the surrounding area, the Indianapolis Airport Authority has partnered with Hendricks County Parks and Recreation and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to open the Sodalis Nature Park.
The park, named for federally endangered Indiana bat Myotis sodalis, which inhabits the wooded areas in and around the park, can be found on lands that have been protected for it under a Habitat Conservation Plan created to ensure the colony can survive in the midst of area development.
The HCPR will operate and maintain the park on property owned by the airport authority. It encompasses 209.5 acres of land that serve as a refuge for then 100 species of wildlife including the bat, and it will feature trails, picnic areas, year-round educational programs and a 5.5-acre pond with fishing pier.
The airport authority began working with the USFWS in 1992 to mitigate the consequences that development projects can have on roosting and foraging habitats of the federally endangered Indiana bat. Using guidance from the USFWS, the airport authority developed the Habitat Conservation Program to protect the allocated land, allow scientific research, and establish conservation and monitoring practices for the bats and their roosting and foraging habits. Under the program, IAA has acquired more than 2,200 acres of land in Marion and Hendricks counties.
In 2009, the IAA and HCPR, working with the USFWS to ensure the proposed park would not be incompatible with the area’s core conservation mission, entered into a 20-year lease agreement to establish the Sodalis Nature Park within the permanently protected area.
The park was dedicated May 13.
