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History

The Shirley Heinze Environmental Fund was endowed in 1981 as a charitable trust devoted to the preservation and protection of the Indiana Dunes. The original endowment was donated by Robert and Bette Lou Seidner as a memorial to their late friend, Dr. Shirley Heinze.

Shirley Heinze was a long-time resident of Ogden Dunes and a tireless advocate for the preservation of natural lands in the Indiana Dunes. Dr. Heinze was a member of the faculty of the Department of Psychiatry at the University of Illinois and also operated a private counseling practice. She died in 1978.

Since its establishment, the Heinze Fund has acquired (through purchase and donation) more than 280 acres of vital habitat in Lake, Porter and LaPorte Counties. These include three large nature preserves [Cressmoor Prairie in Hobart, Seidner Dune and Swale in Hammond, and Coulter Sand Prairie in Portage] as well as numerous smaller wetlands plots, some of which have been turned over to the Indiana Dunes National Lakeshore. We intend to make improvements and restore properties already under our control, as well as continue acquisition of other endangered lands.

In February 1998, the Southern Lake Michigan Coastal Wetlands Project, a proposal submitted by the Heinze Fund in conjunction with a number of local partners, was approved for funding under the North American Wetlands Conservation Act. The $1-million grant, over the next 10 years, will provide an enormous boost toward fulfilling our long-term preservation goals. A major objective will be the restoration of some 800 acres of the Great Marsh in the Beverly Shores area. Our partners in this effort are Indiana Dunes National Lakeshore, Indiana Department of Natural Resources, Nature Conservancy, Lake County Parks Department, and Northern Indiana Public Service Company. The Indiana Heritage Fund will also provide some funding.

The Heinze Fund has published three books on the natural and cultural history of the Dunes area. We have sponsored more than 100 educational hikes led by outstanding authorities on local flora and fauna, and we have plans to increase our outreach programs to local schools, social and community organizations.