back to introduction

An Iowa conservation group protected its 100,000^th acre in March and celebrated the milestone by offering to donate 40 acres to the State of Iowa.

The Iowa Natural Heritage Foundation’s 100,000^th acre occurred in a proposed new addition to Stone State Park in Sioux City, Iowa.

INHF was able to donate the land with funding from Marlis Mildred Acklin, a Sioux City nurse who died in September 2007. She left her entire estate to INHF to be used for Loess Hills protection.

Stone State Park is known for its scenic Loess Hills prairie ridges. The park is owned and managed by the Iowa Department of Natural Resources. The popular Dorothy Pecaut Nature Center, located inside the park, is managed by the Woodbury County Conservation Board.

INHF President Mark Ackelson announced this conservation milestone on Thursday at the state Natural Resources Commission meeting in Indianola.

INHF, a nonprofit conservation group, has helped public and private partners protect 711 sites located in 93 of Iowa’s 99 counties.

Nearly 70 percent of the 100,000 acres are now owned by county, state or federal conservation agencies and are managed as public fish and wildlife areas, parks, preserves and trails. (See ownership distribution chart or county-by-county project list).

Another 20 percent of the acres are in private ownership. Most are protected by permanent conservation easements. These voluntary protection agreements limit activities that could damage the land’s natural resources.

The remaining acres are owned by INHF or are pending transfer to public ownership.

Although 100,000 acres represents substantial conservation work, Ackelson and others emphasized there is much more to be done.

“Iowa is arguably the most human-modified state in the nation,” Ackelson said. “It really comes down to quality of life for our residents. If we want a healthy environment, a healthy economy and healthy citizens, we need more natural areas permanently protected and restored.”

The Iowa Wildlife Action Plan calls for 4 percent of Iowa’s land to be protected by 2030. To date, Iowa’s many conservation organizations have protected only 2 percent.

Since habitat loss is the leading cause of species decline among Iowa’s wildlife, the need to protect these lands is urgent.

Although INHF’s 100,000 acres are sizeable, it is about one-fourth the size of an average Iowa county — an area smaller than Des Moines and its suburbs.

Concerns about protecting Iowa’s natural lands came to a height in 1979. That year, Iowa’s then-governor Robert Ray, Gerry Schnepf, Robert Buckmaster and other citizens recognized that government alone could not protect Iowa’s natural resources.

They created the Iowa Natural Heritage Foundation, a private conservation group that could act quickly to purchase and protect important natural lands.

INHF now has 7,000 members whose donations protect not only land, but also water and wildlife. These open spaces promote outdoor recreation and healthier lifestyles.

INHF’s first major project was establishment of the Mines of Spain State Recreation Area in Dubuque County.

Other key projects include the 1,045-acre Heritage Addition to the Effigy Mounds National Monument in Allamakee County, the Hitchcock Nature Area in Pottawattamie County, Angler’s Bay in Dickinson County and hundreds more.

INHF also has been a driving force in creating Iowa’s trail network, helping convert former railroad lines into public trails.

INHF has been a partner in creating more than 500 miles of trails, which represents about 75 percent of Iowa’s rail-trails.

Key INHF rail-trails include the Wabash Trace Nature Trail in southwestern Iowa, the Heritage Trail and Cedar Valley Nature Trail in eastern Iowa, and the Central Iowa Trail Network.

“There are many ecological reasons to save special places in Iowa,” Ackelson said. “But you don’t need to be a scientist to know it would be wrong if our great-grandchildren can’t enjoy and marvel at Iowa’s special places the way we do today.”

For more information, e-mail Cathy Engstrom, Director of Communications, or call (515) 288-1846.