THIRD PLACE FOR WILDLIFE

Third Place for Wildlife Trust, Inc. is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit dedicated to conservation, stewardship, and community connection in the Whitewater Valley of southeastern Indiana. Rooted in history, habitat, art, and education, we are building what we believe will become a landmark destination for Franklin County — and a model for how communities can honor their past while investing in the future of  the natural world. 

OUR WORK IS CENTERED AROUND TWO SIGNATURE INITIATIVES

Connected by the Historic Whitewater Canal Trail, these two projects sit within an easy one-mile walk along the scenic West Fork of the Whitewater River. The canal and its towpath are listed on the National Register of Historic Places — a living corridor where history, science, art, and community come together, and where a new chapter for Franklin County is beginning.

The Charley & Edie Harper Art & Bird Migration Center

Mick and Jenny Wilz, founders of Third Place for Wildlife Trust, Inc., are working in partnership with Charley Harper Art Studio LLC and under the project oversight of the Franklin County Arts Council to create a permanent outdoor art and bird migration center in Franklin County, Indiana. Inspired by the surrounding landscape and the enduring connection between art and the natural world, the Center is envisioned as a place of discovery, reflection, and learning.

The collaboration with Charley Harper Art Studio LLC ensures that the Center will honor the spirit and legacy of Charley and Edie Harper, whose work is celebrated in museums and exhibitions around the world. Together, the partners are committed to creating a world-class destination where conservation, education, and design meet in a meaningful and lasting way.

The Butler Family Trail at Boundary Hill

The Butler Family Trail honors two generations of the Butler family whose lives and work shaped both Brookville and Indiana’s natural history. Amos Butler, a founding father of Brookville in the early 19th century, helped establish the community along the Whitewater River. Decades later, his nephew — also named Amos Butler — became one of Indiana’s most respected naturalists and a pioneer in systematic bird study. His landmark work, Birds of Indiana, was rooted in field observations from southeastern Indiana river valleys, including the Whitewater.

This trail connects settlement and science — linking Brookville’s founding story with modern ecological research, history with habitat, and community with conservation.

About Boundary Hill

Boundary Hill, located just two miles west of Brookville, may appear modest in size, but it holds extraordinary historical significance — particularly in the story of American transportation and westward expansion.

Running directly through this hill is the western boundary line established by the Treaty of Greenville (1795), a pivotal agreement that opened much of present-day Ohio and southeastern Indiana to American settlement following the Northwest Indian War. In the years that followed, determination and engineering carved multiple routes through this natural barrier:

1825 — Harrison Pike, the first state road, was cut over the top

Late 1830s — The Whitewater Canal passed through a hand-cut notch in the southern slope

1850s — A central cut carried the railroad and telegraph lines westward

Early 1900s — U.S. 52 opened a modern highway corridor along the northern passage

Today, Boundary Hill is a layered timeline of movement — from treaty line to footpath, from canal to railroad to highway — each generation reshaping the land in pursuit of what lay beyond.

In 2023, the Wilz family purchased Boundary Hill and launched the Boundary Hill Pass Project. A comprehensive ecological study is now underway, led by Dr. David Russell of the Avian Research and Education Institute with support from Miami University students. His research is documenting the birds, plants, and wildlife of this landscape and will serve as the scientific foundation for future conservation planning in the Whitewater Valley.

Our goal is twofold: to preserve this remarkable layered transportation history, and to protect the rich river-bottom habitat that supports resident and migratory species traveling the Mississippi Flyway each spring and fall.

We invite you to explore, learn, and follow this journey — as we work to preserve one of Indiana’s defining landscapes while building a thoughtful, science-based future for conservation in Franklin County.