The bicentennial of Indiana statehood is four years away, but the planning has already begun.

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To celebrate its centennial in 1916, Indiana created its state park system. Lieutenant Governor Becky Skillman, who's co-chairing a bicentennial commission with former congressman Lee Hamilton, announced one initiative in January: a nature trust to buy up land for conservation. Beyond that, the field is still wide open -- even in terms of how many events there will be, what time of year they'll take place, and whether they'll lean toward legacy projects or birthday parties.

Skillman says the commission will soon hire an executive director to handle day-do-day work. She says some celebrations will be at the local level -- and notes even if the commission declines to fund them, local organizers can still forge ahead.

Skillman says there's been no shortage of ideas at the three meetings the commission has held so far, and says the panel will need to narrow them down. The commission's official directive from Governor Daniels gives the panel wide latitude, calling for celebrations which "strengthen our collective sense of good citizenship."

The bicentennial is December 11, 2016.