LaPorte County Soil and Water Conservation District

LaPorte County Soil and Water Conservation District We provide leadership, education, and technical assistance to empower LaPorte County residents.

Who We Are

Statutory Authority Indiana Code IC 14-32-5-1 (District Law): A district constitutes a governmental subdivision of the state and public body exercising public powers. Function/Purpose

To provide information about soil, water, and related natural resource conservation; identify and prioritize local soil and water resource concerns; and connect land users to sources of educational, tech

nical, and financial assistance to implement conservation practices and technologies. Who We Serve

The residents and/or land users of LaPorte County and others who come to the District with natural resource concerns. Why

LaPorte County Soil and Water Conservation District exists because of the need for the education and awareness of wise use and proper management of natural resources.

Native of the Week — Purple-stemmed Angelica (Angelica atropurpurea L.)Observed today in Springville, LaPorte County — a...
06/04/2026

Native of the Week — Purple-stemmed Angelica (Angelica atropurpurea L.)

Observed today in Springville, LaPorte County — and worth a closer look, because this plant gets confused with poison hemlock more than it should.

Here’s your field ID:

🟣 Angelica (Angelica atropurpurea L.) — solid deep purple stem, smooth and clean. Large compound leaves. Wet ground. Native. Beneficial.

⚪ Poison Hemlock (Conium maculatum L.) — hollow green stem with reddish-purple blotches. Finely divided, lacy leaves. Musty smell when crushed. Deadly.

Solid purple = Angelica. Spotted green = hands off.

Once those umbels open, this thing is a pollinator magnet — bees, wasps, and swallowtails all over it. A stand this robust is a sign of healthy hydrology and good ground. Leave it standing.

🌿

Here at the SWCD office some of our pollinators are showing their beautiful colors and coming to life! Our pollinator ki...
06/03/2026

Here at the SWCD office some of our pollinators are showing their beautiful colors and coming to life! Our pollinator kits that were planted two years ago have some Ohio Spiderwort (Tradescantia ohiensis), Golden Alexander (Zizia aurea), and Foxglove Beard Tongue (Penstemon digitalis) in bloom. Our Butterfly Milkw**d (Asclepias tuberosa) in our front pollinator gardens has attracted a pretty Monarch Butterfly (Danaus plexippus). Our Bur Oaks (Quercus macrocarpa) and Swamp White Oaks (Quercus bicolor) that were planted by J&L Contractors two weeks ago are doing amazing and are thriving in our prairie. We can’t wait to see more beautiful colors from our pollinators pop up throughout the summer!

SOLD OUT!!!Our Native Garden Kits have sold out! Thank you so much to our sponsors, The Pax Center and LaPorte County St...
05/15/2026

SOLD OUT!!!

Our Native Garden Kits have sold out! Thank you so much to our sponsors, The Pax Center and LaPorte County Stormwater MS4, for this amazing opportunity to supply these kits at a huge discount, and thank you to all who purchased native plants to support our local ecosystem.

𝐏𝐢𝐜𝐤𝐮𝐩 will be June 10th through 13th between 9am and 5pm CDT at Bernacchi's Oak Valley Greenhouses, 5656 S. 500 W. LaPorte, IN 46350.

If you missed out on this opportunity, be sure to visit Bernacchi's Oak Valley Greenhouses to check out their native plant section! Many of the species offered in our kits are still available there.

🦎 Our restoration techs from Purdue University were putting savanna oaks into our one-year-old Clean Water Indiana polli...
05/15/2026

🦎 Our restoration techs from Purdue University were putting savanna oaks into our one-year-old Clean Water Indiana pollinator prairie this week when this came up out of the soil — a healthy Eastern Tiger Salamander (Ambystoma tigrinum).

These are the same techs who put in serious work last year establishing this habitat. Turns out the land noticed.

Tiger salamanders spend the vast majority of their lives underground, moving through loose soil and mammal burrows. Finding one in a prairie that’s barely out of its first growing season tells you something real: soil structure is developing, the site has connectivity to breeding wetland habitat in the surrounding landscape, and the system is already functioning below the surface in ways you can’t see from the road.
The land responds on its own schedule — and it doesn’t wait for the project to be finished.
🌾🦎

🌳 The Door Between Worlds is open.This week, J&L Construction put Bur Oak (Quercus macrocarpa) and Swamp White Oak (Quer...
05/14/2026

🌳 The Door Between Worlds is open.
This week, J&L Construction put Bur Oak (Quercus macrocarpa) and Swamp White Oak (Quercus bicolor) in the ground at two LaPorte County landmarks — the LaPorte County Historical Society property and the Purdue Extension/SWCD campus at the County Fairgrounds — as part of our Clean Water Indiana pollinator habitat work. Fifty oaks across two acres of seeded mesic prairie.

The species selection is deliberate. Q. macrocarpa is the classic savanna anchor — thick corky bark evolved to survive fire, a root system that drives mycorrhizal networks across the surrounding plant community, and the capacity to support 500+ species of Lepidoptera larvae. No oaks. No caterpillars. No birds. The food web doesn’t negotiate.

Q. bicolor works the wetter margins. Tolerant of seasonal inundation and compacted soils, Swamp White Oak bridges savanna and wetland edge — intercepting rainfall, improving infiltration, and feeding organic matter into a soil food web that filters nutrients and sediment before they reach the watershed. Green infrastructure with a 200-year service life.
Together they reconstruct the oak savanna — the fire-maintained ecotone where tall-grass prairie met eastern deciduous forest, once the defining landscape of northwest Indiana and now one of the most imperiled plant communities on the continent. Both species deliver early-season pollen for pollinators and leaf litter that creates overwintering structure for the native bees working the prairie plantings around them.
Planted in Root Maker fabric containers — air-pruned architecture, no circling roots, no transplant stall. These trees hit the ground wired to establish.

The sign on site says it well: “The Door Between Worlds.” We’re not planting a garden. We’re reopening a door that’s been closed for most of a century.

Thank you to the LaPorte County Historical Society, Clean Water Indiana, the Kesling Foundation, and Supportive LaPorte County Residents. 🌿

🐢 Meet the best water quality monitor we’ve ever found in the field — and we found him today.This Eastern Box Turtle (li...
05/12/2026

🐢 Meet the best water quality monitor we’ve ever found in the field — and we found him today.

This Eastern Box Turtle (likely male based on Red Eye pigmentation) was discovered this morning by Purdue University ecology interns at the Friendship Botanic Gardens woodland restoration project — one of ten active sites funded through our Clean Water Indiana Native Pollinator Habitat Grant.

Here’s why he matters beyond the wow factor:
terrapene carolina doesn’t live in degraded systems. He requires a functioning woodland understory — diverse forb and shrub layers actively serviced by native pollinators, producing the fruit and invertebrate communities he depends on. That same recovered understory is doing something else: slowing, filtering, and infiltrating stormwater that would otherwise carry sediment and nutrients directly into our local waterways.

The connection is direct. Invasive species removal opens the canopy. Native vegetation recovers. Root systems deepen. Soil structure improves. Infiltration rates increase. Pollutant loads to streams decrease.

The turtle is the indicator. Clean water is the outcome.

This is what the Clean Water Indiana program funds — not just habitat, but the full suite of ecological functions that healthy land delivers to healthy water. Fifty acres. Ten sites. Nine sub-watersheds across LaPorte County. And today, confirmation from one of the most honest bioindicators in the eastern deciduous forest.

We opened up the canopy. Forty years of applied practice said we would. Nature confirmed it this morning.

Psst… Just in case you procrastinated a teensy bit on a Mother’s Day gift, we thought we’d help you out.50 plants for le...
05/10/2026

Psst… Just in case you procrastinated a teensy bit on a Mother’s Day gift, we thought we’d help you out.

50 plants for less than $50, and they all are native! Pickup is June 10th through 13th, 9am-5pm at Bernacchi's Oak Valley Greenhouses. Order your kit, and save this photo to send to Mom! For more information and to order, check out https://www.laporteswcd.org/shop/

🌼𝟔𝟓% 𝐎𝐅𝐅 𝐍𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐯𝐞 𝐆𝐚𝐫𝐝𝐞𝐧 𝐊𝐢𝐭𝐬: 𝐏𝐫𝐞-𝐎𝐫𝐝𝐞𝐫𝐬 𝐀𝐯𝐚𝐢𝐥𝐚𝐛𝐥𝐞 𝐍𝐨𝐰!🦋LaPorte County Residents, your yard can do real ecological work, ...
05/09/2026

🌼𝟔𝟓% 𝐎𝐅𝐅 𝐍𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐯𝐞 𝐆𝐚𝐫𝐝𝐞𝐧 𝐊𝐢𝐭𝐬: 𝐏𝐫𝐞-𝐎𝐫𝐝𝐞𝐫𝐬 𝐀𝐯𝐚𝐢𝐥𝐚𝐛𝐥𝐞 𝐍𝐨𝐰!🦋

LaPorte County Residents, your yard can do real ecological work, and now it costs less than half as much to get started. Thanks to generous support from The Pax Center and the 𝐋𝐚𝐏𝐨𝐫𝐭𝐞 𝐂𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐭𝐲 𝐒𝐭𝐨𝐫𝐦𝐰𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐌𝐚𝐧𝐚𝐠𝐞𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐃𝐞𝐩𝐚𝐫𝐭𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭, Native Garden Kits, carefully curated by the LaPorte County SWCD and sourced locally from Bernacchi's Oak Valley Greenhouses, are now available at 𝟔𝟓% 𝐨𝐟𝐟 𝐫𝐞𝐭𝐚𝐢𝐥.

𝐂𝐡𝐨𝐨𝐬𝐞 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐤𝐢𝐭: 𝐒𝐮𝐧 𝐨𝐫 𝐒𝐡𝐚𝐝𝐞. 𝐄𝐚𝐜𝐡 𝐤𝐢𝐭 𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐭𝐚𝐢𝐧𝐬 𝟓𝟎 𝐧𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐯𝐞 𝐩𝐥𝐚𝐧𝐭𝐬. Limit two kits per household. 𝐐𝐮𝐚𝐧𝐭𝐢𝐭𝐢𝐞𝐬 𝐚𝐫𝐞 𝐥𝐢𝐦𝐢𝐭𝐞𝐝, so be sure to act fast!

🌞𝐒𝐔𝐍 𝐊𝐈𝐓 (𝟓𝟎 𝐩𝐥𝐚𝐧𝐭𝐬) For yards with 6+ hours of direct sunlight. Includes:
Butterflyw**d (4), Spotted Beebalm (4), Prairie Cinquefoil (4), Side-oats Grama (4), Prairie Dropseed (4) Little Bluestem (3), Foxglove Beardtongue (3), Lanceleaf Coreopsis (3), Junegrass (3), Smooth Blue Aster (3), Purple Lovegrass (3), Blue False Indigo (3), Purple Prairie Clover (3), Anise Hyssop (3), Showy Goldenrod (3)

🌳 𝐒𝐇𝐀𝐃𝐄 𝐊𝐈𝐓 (𝟓𝟎 𝐩𝐥𝐚𝐧𝐭𝐬) For yards under tree canopy or with filtered/morning sun. Includes:
Canada Wild Rye (5), Pennsylvania Sedge (4), Fox Sedge (4), Bottlebrush Grass (4) Columbine (3), Goatsbeard (3), Wood Mint (3), Coral Bells (3), Great Blue Lobelia (3), Culver's Root (3), Tall Bellflower (3), Foxglove Beardtongue (3), Wild Bergamot (3), Heart-leaved Aster (3), Blue Mistflower (3)

𝑾𝒉𝒚 𝒑𝒍𝒂𝒏𝒕 𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒔𝒆 𝒌𝒊𝒕𝒔?
Every plant included is a regional native — selected to thrive in LaPorte County soils, feed and shelter the pollinators, songbirds, and wildlife that depend on them, and protect our precious groundwater. Plant once; they come back year after year. As an added bonus, these plants are familiar with our climate, so once established, they do not require routine watering, fertilizer, or pesticides. Just w**d out the invasives a few times a year, and watch the beautiful benefits of planting native!

𝑾𝒉𝒚 𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒔𝒆 𝒕𝒘𝒐 𝒑𝒂𝒓𝒕𝒏𝒆𝒓𝒔 𝒔𝒕𝒆𝒑𝒑𝒆𝒅 𝒖𝒑:
🕊️ 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐏𝐚𝐱 𝐂𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐫 — Cultivating peace, place, and the natural world. A healthier landscape and a healthier community grow from the same soil. Pollinator gardens are exactly the kind of grounded, hopeful work the Center exists to support.

💧 𝐋𝐚𝐏𝐨𝐫𝐭𝐞 𝐂𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐭𝐲 𝐒𝐭𝐨𝐫𝐦𝐰𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐌𝐚𝐧𝐚𝐠𝐞𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐃𝐞𝐩𝐚𝐫𝐭𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭 — Cleaner water starts in the yard. Native plants don't just feed pollinators — their deep roots soak up stormwater, filter pollutants, and protect our lakes and streams. Every pollinator garden is a small piece of green infrastructure.

𝐏𝐫𝐞-𝐎𝐫𝐝𝐞𝐫 𝐘𝐨𝐮𝐫𝐬: https://www.laporteswcd.org/shop/ Limit two kits per household. Quantities are limited — when they're gone, they're gone.

𝐏𝐢𝐜𝐤𝐮𝐩 will be June 10th through 13th between 9am and 5pm CST at Bernacchi's Oak Valley Greenhouses, 5656 S. 500 W. LaPorte, IN 46350.

🌼𝟔𝟓% 𝐎𝐅𝐅 𝐍𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐯𝐞 𝐆𝐚𝐫𝐝𝐞𝐧 𝐊𝐢𝐭𝐬: 𝐏𝐫𝐞-𝐎𝐫𝐝𝐞𝐫𝐬 𝐀𝐯𝐚𝐢𝐥𝐚𝐛𝐥𝐞 𝐍𝐨𝐰!🦋LaPorte County Residents, your yard can do real ecological work, ...
05/09/2026

🌼𝟔𝟓% 𝐎𝐅𝐅 𝐍𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐯𝐞 𝐆𝐚𝐫𝐝𝐞𝐧 𝐊𝐢𝐭𝐬: 𝐏𝐫𝐞-𝐎𝐫𝐝𝐞𝐫𝐬 𝐀𝐯𝐚𝐢𝐥𝐚𝐛𝐥𝐞 𝐍𝐨𝐰!🦋

LaPorte County Residents, your yard can do real ecological work, and now it costs less than half as much to get started. Thanks to generous support from The Pax Center and the 𝐋𝐚𝐏𝐨𝐫𝐭𝐞 𝐂𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐭𝐲 𝐒𝐭𝐨𝐫𝐦𝐰𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐌𝐚𝐧𝐚𝐠𝐞𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐃𝐞𝐩𝐚𝐫𝐭𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭, Native Garden Kits, carefully curated by the LaPorte County SWCD and sourced locally from Bernacchi’s Oak Valley Greenhouses, are now available at 𝟔𝟓% 𝐨𝐟𝐟 𝐫𝐞𝐭𝐚𝐢𝐥.

𝐂𝐡𝐨𝐨𝐬𝐞 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐤𝐢𝐭: 𝐒𝐮𝐧 𝐨𝐫 𝐒𝐡𝐚𝐝𝐞. 𝐄𝐚𝐜𝐡 𝐤𝐢𝐭 𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐭𝐚𝐢𝐧𝐬 𝟓𝟎 𝐧𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐯𝐞 𝐩𝐥𝐚𝐧𝐭𝐬. Limit two kits per household. 𝐐𝐮𝐚𝐧𝐭𝐢𝐭𝐢𝐞𝐬 𝐚𝐫𝐞 𝐥𝐢𝐦𝐢𝐭𝐞𝐝, so be sure to act fast!

🌞𝐒𝐔𝐍 𝐊𝐈𝐓 (𝟓𝟎 𝐩𝐥𝐚𝐧𝐭𝐬) For yards with 6+ hours of direct sunlight. Includes:
Butterflyw**d (4), Spotted Beebalm (4), Prairie Cinquefoil (4), Side-oats Grama (4), Prairie Dropseed (4) Little Bluestem (3), Foxglove Beardtongue (3), Lanceleaf Coreopsis (3), Junegrass (3), Smooth Blue Aster (3), Purple Lovegrass (3), Blue False Indigo (3), Purple Prairie Clover (3), Anise Hyssop (3), Showy Goldenrod (3)

🌳 𝐒𝐇𝐀𝐃𝐄 𝐊𝐈𝐓 (𝟓𝟎 𝐩𝐥𝐚𝐧𝐭𝐬) For yards under tree canopy or with filtered/morning sun. Includes:
Canada Wild Rye (5), Pennsylvania Sedge (4), Fox Sedge (4), Bottlebrush Grass (4) Columbine (3), Goatsbeard (3), Wood Mint (3), Coral Bells (3), Great Blue Lobelia (3), Culver's Root (3), Tall Bellflower (3), Foxglove Beardtongue (3), Wild Bergamot (3), Heart-leaved Aster (3), Blue Mistflower (3)

𝑾𝒉𝒚 𝒑𝒍𝒂𝒏𝒕 𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒔𝒆 𝒌𝒊𝒕𝒔?
Every plant included is a regional native — selected to thrive in LaPorte County soils, feed and shelter the pollinators, songbirds, and wildlife that depend on them, and protect our precious groundwater. Plant once; they come back year after year. As an added bonus, these plants are familiar with our climate, so once established, they do not require routine watering, fertilizer, or pesticides. Just w**d out the invasives a few times a year, and watch the beautiful benefits of planting native!

𝑾𝒉𝒚 𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒔𝒆 𝒕𝒘𝒐 𝒑𝒂𝒓𝒕𝒏𝒆𝒓𝒔 𝒔𝒕𝒆𝒑𝒑𝒆𝒅 𝒖𝒑:
🕊️ 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐏𝐚𝐱 𝐂𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐫 — Cultivating peace, place, and the natural world. A healthier landscape and a healthier community grow from the same soil. Pollinator gardens are exactly the kind of grounded, hopeful work the Center exists to support.
💧 𝐋𝐚𝐏𝐨𝐫𝐭𝐞 𝐂𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐭𝐲 𝐒𝐭𝐨𝐫𝐦𝐰𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐌𝐚𝐧𝐚𝐠𝐞𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐃𝐞𝐩𝐚𝐫𝐭𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭 — Cleaner water starts in the yard. Native plants don't just feed pollinators — their deep roots soak up stormwater, filter pollutants, and protect our lakes and streams. Every pollinator garden is a small piece of green infrastructure.

𝐏𝐫𝐞-𝐎𝐫𝐝𝐞𝐫 𝐘𝐨𝐮𝐫𝐬: https://www.laporteswcd.org/shop/ Limit two kits per household. Quantities are limited — when they're gone, they're gone.

𝐏𝐢𝐜𝐤𝐮𝐩 will be June 10th through 13th between 9am and 5pm CST at Bernacchi's Oak Valley Greenhouses, 5656 S. 500 W. LaPorte, IN 46350.

Wishing luck to our La Porte High School and Michigan City High School teams as they compete at the Indiana Envirothon s...
04/29/2026

Wishing luck to our La Porte High School and Michigan City High School teams as they compete at the Indiana Envirothon state competition today!!!

Address

2857 W State Road 2 Ste B
Laporte, IN
46350

Opening Hours

Monday 8am - 4pm
Tuesday 8am - 4pm
Wednesday 8am - 4pm
Thursday 8am - 4pm
Friday 8am - 4pm

Telephone

+12193266808

Website

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