Eco-zone protected area of Conklin Bay
In 2001, the WACF, the Syracuse Lake Association, and the Wawasee Property Owners Association worked with the IDNR to develop the state’s first eco-zones. IDNR staff completed an assessment of the lake’s plant community in the summer of 2001. Based on this assessment and a review of historical information, a rule was drafted to create a number of eco-zones in several sensitive areas around Lake Wawasee. IDNR supplies buoys to mark the eco-zones and WACF volunteers place and maintain them. In a two-year LARE study of the plant community in the eco-zone protected area of Conklin Bay, the reporting biologist summarized by stating “the eco-zones are working”.
