Goosepond Fish and Wildlife Areas
The Goosepond
Goosepond Wetland Reserve is located two miles southwest of Linton on State Road 59 in Stafford Township. Goosepond is currently an 8,000-acre parcel of land that was formally used for farming purposes. The area was said to be the largest corn field in Greene County and in the state of Indiana.
Goosepond was classified as a wetland in the late 1830s to attract new wildlife to the area, such as deer, eagles, panthers, and otters. In 1950 the Goosepond changed its appearance as it was drained for tenant farmers to take over the land for agricultural purposes
In the year 2003 the IDNR (Indiana Department of Natural Resources) and the National Waterfowl and Wetland Association (NWWA) proposed to once again bring back the public access wetlands to Goosepond.
Goosepond is being restored under the Wetland Reserve Program (WRP) by the Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS), a division of the United States Department of Agriculture, and is currently one of the largest WRP restorations in the U. S. today.
The current restoration could not be completed without the help of organizations such as Ducks Unlimited (DU) and the NAWCA. The recent restoration work completed by Ducks Unlimited was made possible because the organization provided $1,114,000 to IDNR for this acquisition. This includes a $250,000 cash contribution by Ducks Unlimited along with $864,000 of NAWCA funds awarded to DU for this purpose.
The new Goosepond wetland will be a tremendous help to the areas hunters, photographers, and tourists. Hopefully the new project will boost the economy and help with local businesses. The IDNR is hoping the people choose to keep Goosepond as a wetland reserve and not decide to drain and renovate it again.
This information was used with permission from the Linton-Stockton School Corporation.
Pictures can be found in our photogallery.
Events happening at Goosepond Fish and Wildlife Area can be in our event calendar.
