Volunteers have worked more than three years to create the Eagle Slough Natural Area and make nature more accessible to people, but this spring nature demonstrated it's still the boss.
A dedication of the wetlands area, off Water Works Road near Ellis Park, was planned for this weekend. However, the flooding pushed back the dedication until the fall by delaying the finishing touches on fixtures and signage that volunteers hoped to complete.
The slough earned its name this spring as flooding from the Ohio River washed across the bottom lands and closed access to the wetlands area near Ellis Park, making it nearly indistinguishable from other surrounding geographic features submerged in backwaters three to four feet deep.
"The name Eagle Slough — we didn't just make that up. We looked on old maps and that's what it was called. It was a natural slough," said Greg Meyers, a project volunteer.
The area has long been subject to spillover from Eagle Creek, which feeds into the Ohio. The water leaves behind rich deposits of nutrients, perhaps explaining the healthy bald cypress trees found there, said Steve Gifford, a local wildlife photographer.
The cypresses are some of the largest in the state and the slough's stand of them is one of only eight known cypress stands in Indiana, the northern reach of the wetlands-loving tree's limit. The cypresses, and the many other trees growing there, in turn provide cover for hundreds of migrating water fowl and songbirds.
"It's part of the natural cycle. It's one of the things that makes that slough what it is," Gifford said.
Gifford and Meyers were able to get a canoe into the area last week to view the submerged nature area.
"It's amazing how much you depend on landmarks when you are hiking and how much it throws you off when they are gone," said Steve Gifford, a local wildlife photographer and project volunteer. "It was just one big lake."
Based on observations of how high the water was on signposts and the entrance pillars, Meyers estimates the slough has been covered in two to four feet of water.
At the heart of the project is an abandoned, elevated rail bed that volunteers turned into a nature trial extending from Water Works Road and ending in an observation deck extending out over a lake at the northern end of the 127-acre area.
A nature photography blind, outdoor classroom with benches and signposts have already been installed, as have stone pillars guarding the area's entrance from would-be dumpers and unwanted vehicles. Meyers said it did not appear that the flood created any significant damage to what has already been done at Eagle Slough.
However, the observation deck still needs to be finished, informational signs put up and the trail surface completed.
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