His work brought international attention to the area which led to efforts to preserve the Indiana Dunes.

Dorothy Buell founded the Save the Dunes Council which led to the purchase of the wetland complex.

The general area is accessible by the Cowles Bog Trail of Indiana Dunes National Park.

[4] Cowles Bog is drained by the West Branch Tributary of Dunes Creek to Lake Michigan.

Wet depressions exist which reveal a substratum of Maumee soils, a loamy fine sand.

Immature trees exist in all the lower layers of the woods with the red maple and yellow birch still dominating.

[4] At ground level, the herb layer includes columbine, boneset, jewel weed, nettle, twinberry, mayapple, hispid greenbrier, meadow rue, narrow-leaved cattail and grape.

Purple pitcher plant (Sarracenia purpurea), while once common, has been poached from the area and no longer occurs.