New Indiana nature preserve was shaped by last ice age

PARAGON, Ind. (AP) - A state commission has approved a new nature preserve in a section of central Indiana shaped by glaciers during the last ice age.

The Natural Resources Commission approved the 52-acre Ravinia Seeps Spring Nature Preserve in Morgan County on Tuesday. Indiana now has 280 state-designated natural sites protected under state law.

The state Department of Natural Resources says the site includes a geologically unique and biologically rich valley that was filled with gravel, sand and other debris at the end of the last ice age, about 11,000 years ago.

The DNR says the new nature preserve offers outstanding insect and amphibian habitat. The site is home to Eastern box turtles and unusual native plants like queen of the prairie and golden alexanders.