Save the Dunes Conservation Fund, originally known as Save the Dunes Council, is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization in

Northwest Indiana Northwest Indiana, nicknamed The Region after the Calumet Region, comprises Lake, Porter, LaPorte, Newton and Jasper counties in Indiana. This region neighbors Lake Michigan and is part of the Chicago metropolitan area. According to the 2020 ...

whose mission is to preserve, protect and restore the Indiana dunes and all natural resources in Northwest Indiana’s

Lake Michigan Lake Michigan is one of the five Great Lakes of North America. It is the second-largest of the Great Lakes by volume () and the third-largest by surface area (), after Lake Superior and Lake Huron. To the east, its basin is conjoined with that o ...

Watershed.

History

The Save the Dunes council was established in June 1952 by

Dorothy Richardson Buell Dorothy Richardson Buell (1886–1976) was an American educator and nature preservationist who became the founder and first president of the Save the Dunes Council, a nonprofit group dedicated to preserving the Indiana dunelands along Lake Michigan ...

when 21 women met at her home to create what became the campaign to establish the

Indiana Dunes National Lakeshore Indiana Dunes National Park is a United States national park located in northwestern Indiana managed by the National Park Service. It was authorized by Congress in 1966 as the Indiana Dunes National Lakeshore and was redesignated as the nation ...

. Their credo was, "We are prepared to spend the rest of our lives, if necessary, to save the Dunes". Indiana Representative Charles A. Halleck aggressively challenged the council and their ally, Illinois Senator,

Paul Douglas Paul Howard Douglas (March 26, 1892 – September 24, 1976) was an American politician and Georgist economist. A member of the Democratic Party, he served as a U.S. Senator from Illinois for eighteen years, from 1949 to 1967. During his Senat ...

. Halleck carried an unwavering support for creating a port on the Lakeshore which would have removed the large central dunes of the

Indiana Dunes Indiana Dunes National Park is a United States national park located in northwestern Indiana managed by the National Park Service. It was authorized by Congress in 1966 as the Indiana Dunes National Lakeshore and was redesignated as the nation ...

. The battle between Douglas and Halleck ended in compromise, with the

Port of Indiana The Port of Indiana-Burns Harbor is an industrial area, founded in 1965 and located on the Lake Michigan shore of Indiana at the intersection of U.S. Route 12 and Indiana State Road 249. The primary work done in the area is the manufacturing of ...

being created and the authorization of the Indiana Dunes National Lakeshore. As a result of the more than century-long advocacy effort, on February 15, 2019, the Indiana Dunes National Lakeshore became the

Indiana Dunes National Park Indiana Dunes National Park is a United States national park located in northwestern Indiana managed by the National Park Service. It was authorized by Congress in 1966 as the Indiana Dunes National Lakeshore and was redesignated as the nation ...

—the first national park in Indiana, and the country's 61st. In partnership with Hitchcock Design Group, Save the Dunes published ''Living in the Dunes,'' a homeowner's guide to landscaping in the Dunes, to help landowners protect their parts of the landscape''.'' It won a 2018 Honor Award from the American Society for Landscape Architects.
The organization alo participates in the Monarch Music Fest.

References

{{Reflist

External links

Save the Dunes
Nature conservation organizations based in the United States Organizations established in 1981 Nature reserves in Indiana Protected areas of LaPorte County, Indiana Protected areas of Porter County, Indiana Protected areas of Lake County, Indiana