Title 14, NATURAL AND CULTURAL RESOURCES

Sec. 1. The part of the Kankakee River that flows through Indiana from the Indiana-Michigan border to the Indiana-Illinois border is a navigable stream for the purpose of exercise of the police power of the state. [Pre-1995 Recodification Citation: 13-2-5-1.] As added by P.L.1-19…

Sec. 1. The general purposes of this chapter are to do the following: (1) Promote the general health and welfare of citizens of Indiana by promoting the preservation of areas of unusual natural interest for scientific, educational, recreational, cultural, and aesthetic purposes a…

Sec. 10. (a) The department may accept contributions and pledges to the fund. Pledges made contingent on appropriation of state money are acceptable and shall be reported with other pledges as set forth in this section. (b) On each December 1 that precedes the beginning of a new …

Sec. 11. (a) To ensure the proper management of natural areas acquired in the campaign, concurrent with the acquisition of each campaign site: (1) an amount equal to twenty percent (20%) of the appraised value of the acquisition shall be transferred from the fund to an account de…

Sec. 12. The trustee of trust I and trust II shall do the following: (1) Accept the following: (A) Transfers from the fund to trust I and trust II in accordance with this chapter. (B) Any other unrestricted contribution to the trust. (2) Invest contributions to trust I to earn th…

Sec. 13. The department shall use the fund, in accordance with this chapter, to acquire natural areas by purchase, gift, or reimbursement to complete the state nature preserve system. A site may not be acquired as part of the campaign that has not been approved for registry. In a…

Sec. 14. The total acreage to be acquired in the campaign may not exceed fifteen thousand (15,000) acres. Campaign acquisition purchases may be made only from willing sellers. [Pre-1995 Recodification Citation: 14-4-5.1-7.] As added by P.L.1-1995, SEC.24.

Sec. 15. The division shall prepare, on a quarterly basis, instructions for the trustee of trust I and trust II regarding distribution of income. In preparing these instructions, the division shall consider the following: (1) What entities have primary management responsibility f…

Sec. 16. The division may instruct the trustee of trust II to distribute part or all of the principal of trust II to an entity primarily responsible for management of a campaign acquisition if, in the discretion of the division, the income that can be made available to that entit…

Sec. 17. The commission may adopt rules under IC 4-22-2 to implement this chapter. [Pre-1995 Recodification Citation: 14-4-5.1-10.] As added by P.L.1-1995, SEC.24.

Sec. 2. As used in this chapter, "appraised value" means the value of property without consideration of the effect, if any, of dedication or other preservation related restrictions. [Pre-1995 Recodification Citation: 14-4-5.1-2 part.] As added by P.L.1-1995, SEC.24.

Sec. 3. As used in this chapter, "campaign" refers to the Indiana natural heritage protection campaign established by this chapter. [Pre-1995 Recodification Citation: 14-4-5.1-2 part.] As added by P.L.1-1995, SEC.24.

Sec. 4. As used in this chapter, "division" refers to the division of nature preserves. [Pre-1995 Recodification Citation: 14-4-5.1-2 part.] As added by P.L.1-1995, SEC.24.

Sec. 5. As used in this chapter, "fund" refers to the Indiana natural heritage protection fund established by this chapter. [Pre-1995 Recodification Citation: 14-4-5.1-2 part.] As added by P.L.1-1995, SEC.24.

Sec. 6. As used in this chapter, "registry" refers to the Indiana natural areas registry: (1) created by IC 14-31-1-8; and (2) administered by the division under IC 14-31-1-9. [Pre-1995 Recodification Citation: 14-4-5.1-2 part.] As added by P.L.1-1995, SEC.24.

Sec. 7. As used in this chapter, "trust I" refers to the Indiana natural heritage stewardship trust I authorized by this chapter. [Pre-1995 Recodification Citation: 14-4-5.1-2 part.] As added by P.L.1-1995, SEC.24.

Sec. 8. As used in this chapter, "trust II" refers to the Indiana natural heritage stewardship trust II authorized by this chapter. [Pre-1995 Recodification Citation: 14-4-5.1-2 part.] As added by P.L.1-1995, SEC.24.

Sec. 9. (a) The Indiana natural heritage protection fund is established. The department shall administer the fund to effect the purposes of this chapter. (b) The department may expend fund resources, except as provided in section 11 of this chapter, only when property or property…

Sec. 1. The soil conservation board is established within the Indiana state department of agriculture established by IC 15-11-2-1 as the policy making body for soil and water conservation. [Pre-1995 Recodification Citation: 13-3-1-4(a) part.] As added by P.L.1-1995, SEC.25. Amend…

Sec. 10. The board may delegate the powers and duties that the board considers proper to: (1) the chairman of the board; (2) any of the members of the board; or (3) the division of soil conservation. [Pre-1995 Recodification Citation: 13-3-1-4(b) part.] As added by P.L.1-1995, SE…

Sec. 11. (a) The board may call upon the attorney general for the legal services that the board requires. (b) For the purpose of carrying out any of the board's functions, the supervising officers of a state agency or of a state educational institution shall, upon request of the …

Sec. 12. The board shall do the following: (1) Provide for the execution of surety bonds for all board employees and officers who are entrusted with money or property. (2) Provide for the keeping of a full and accurate record of all board proceedings and of all resolutions and ru…

Sec. 13. The board may perform the acts and hold the public hearings that are necessary for the execution of the board's functions under this article. [Pre-1995 Recodification Citation: 13-3-1-4(a) part.] As added by P.L.1-1995, SEC.25.

Sec. 2. The board consists of the following seven (7) members: (1) Four (4) members who must be land occupiers with farming interests, appointed by the governor. (2) Three (3) members who must be land occupiers with nonfarming interests, appointed by the governor. [Pre-1995 Recod…

Sec. 3. (a) A majority of the seven (7) appointed members of the board must have experience as district supervisors. (b) In making appointments to the board, the governor may invite and consider the recommendations of the following: (1) The Purdue University cooperative extension…

Sec. 4. The term of an appointed member of the board is four (4) years. An appointed member shall serve until a successor is appointed and has qualified. The terms shall be staggered so that at least three (3) members are appointed every two (2) years. [Pre-1995 Recodification Ci…

Sec. 5. The appointed members of the board are entitled to the following: (1) Reimbursement for travel, lodging, meals, and other expenses as provided in the state travel policies and procedures established by the Indiana department of administration and approved by the budget ag…

Sec. 7. (a) The governor may appoint advisory members from other organizations that promote conservation, including local, state, and federal agencies upon the recommendation of the board. (b) The governor shall appoint members to the advisory board that represent the following: …

Sec. 8. (a) The members of the board shall elect a member as the chairman of the board. (b) The director of the division of soil conservation established within the Indiana state department of agriculture by IC 15-11-4-1 is the secretary of the board. [Pre-1995 Recodification Cit…

Sec. 9. A majority of the members of the board constitutes a quorum. The concurrence of a majority of the members is required for the board to take any action. [Pre-1995 Recodification Citation: 13-3-1-4(c) part.] As added by P.L.1-1995, SEC.25.

Sec. 1. Freeholders who desire the establishment of a district must initiate proceedings by filing a petition in the office of the clerk of the circuit court with jurisdiction in the county containing the most land within the proposed district. [Pre-1995 Recodification Citation: …

Sec. 10. (a) A court in which a petition is filed shall order the proceedings transferred to the court having jurisdiction under section 9 of this chapter if: (1) the petition was filed in the wrong court by mistake; or (2) the petition is amended so that another county has more …

Sec. 11. Upon receipt of a petition for the establishment of a district, the court shall docket the petition as a civil case and set a date for hearing. The court shall give priority to the hearing in determining the date, but the court must allow at least thirty (30) days for in…

Sec. 12. (a) This subsection applies only to a petition by freeholders. The petitioners shall give notice of hearing on the petition as follows: (1) By publication in two (2) newspapers of general circulation in each county having land in the proposed district, three (3) times at…

Sec. 13. Notice of the hearing on a petition serves as notice of all further proceedings in connection with the district. [Pre-1995 Recodification Citation: 13-3-3-18.] As added by P.L.1-1995, SEC.26.

Sec. 14. The notice of the hearing on the petition, in addition to all other requirements, must contain the following: (1) A statement that a petition for a district is before the court. (2) A statement of each purpose for which the district is proposed. (3) A statement as to whi…

Sec. 15. (a) A petition against the establishment of a district may be presented to the court: (1) at the hearing on a petition; or (2) at any time thereafter before the fifth day before the hearing day initially ordered by the court after the receipt of the commission's report. …

Sec. 16. (a) At the hearing on a petition for the establishment of a district, the court shall determine whether the petition: (1) bears the necessary signatures; and (2) complies with the requirements as to form and content. (b) The court may not dismiss a petition with the requ…

Sec. 17. (a) This section applies to all districts, except for districts described in section 18 of this chapter. (b) If the court determines that a petition conforms to the requirements, the court shall enter an order referring the petition to the commission. (c) The commission …

Sec. 18. (a) This section applies only to a district to be located in a county having a population of more than one hundred seventy-four thousand (174,000) and less than one hundred eighty thousand (180,000). (b) If the court determines that a petition conforms to the requirement…

Sec. 19. (a) In determining the facts, the division of water, on behalf of the commission, shall do the following: (1) Hold hearings at which the division of water shall give any interested person the right to be heard. (2) At the request of an interested person, hold hearings at…

Sec. 2. A petition filed under section 1 of this chapter must be signed by freeholders owning land in the proposed district. The signatures of freeholders on the petition must be sufficient to satisfy both of the following requirements: (1) The freeholders signing the petition mu…

Sec. 20. The expenses of the hearings and other expenses of necessary investigations and surveys, together with any expense incurred by the commission in subsequent studies of district plans, are payable initially out of the general money of the commission. The district shall rep…

Sec. 21. (a) If a proposed purpose is within the administrative jurisdiction of another state agency, the commission shall request technical assistance of the agency and give full weight to the agency in making a report to the court. (b) State agencies shall furnish assistance to…

Sec. 22. The commission, in coordination with the department, shall make a report of the commission's findings to the court, including findings on the territorial limits of the proposed district. The commission shall make this report within one hundred twenty (120) days after the…

Sec. 23. The factfinding report of the commission on the proposed district is prima facie evidence of the facts stated in the report in all subsequent proceedings. [Pre-1995 Recodification Citation: 13-3-3-27.] As added by P.L.1-1995, SEC.26.