Unique donation
expands Chinkapin Bluffs

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by Nicole Paseka

Thanks to the generosity of a retired high school mathematics teacher from Columbus Junction, 136 acres of wetland and timber in Louisa County will be added to the Chinkapin Bluffs Recreation Area. The site is Don Schnell's affectionate gift to the Iowa Natural Heritage Foundation and his community.

Don donated the land to protect Iowa's places while establishing a charitable gift annuity. Charitable gift annuities allow a donor to receive lifetime fixed payments as well as a charitable income tax deduction in return for a gift. Typically, a donor gives cash or stock to establish a charitable gift annuity. In Don's case, the gift was land; then INHF needed to convert the land to cash in order to make the lifetime payments back to him.

"Because of the property's location and natural features, we preferred to sell the land in a way that would make it available to Don's community for public use and recreation," said Anita O'Gara, INHF vice president and director of development. "Don's gift became a highly unusual undertaking for INHF, a unique blend of a charitable gift as well as a land project."

Photo by Louisa CCB
The site is bordered by the Iowa River on the east, the Hoover Nature Trail on the southwest, and the city of Columbus Junction on the north. Chinkapin Bluffs Recreation Area, a 262-acre park owned and managed by the Louisa County Conservation Board, lies just across the Hoover Nature Trail from the property. Currently, Chinkapin Bluffs is primarily upland habitat. The addition of Don Schnell's wetlands will provide another ecosystem component for the park, expanding opportunities for hunting, fishing, school field trips, public hikes and other educational activities.

INHF funded 25% of the land's cost, then assisted the Louisa County Conservation Board (LCCB) in seeking grant funding to repurchase the land. A grant from the Iowa Department of Natural Resources' Wildlife Habitat with Local Entities Program provided the majority of the funding. The Iowa State Chapter of the National Wild Turkey Federation, the Tri-Rivers Conservation Foundation and the Louisa County Chapter of Pheasants Forever provided additional private funds.

Nicole Paseka of Onawa is a Robert R. Buckmaster Intern. She is a junior majoring in journalism and sociology at Iowa State University.

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