Iowa Natural Heritage Foundation: The Call of the Wild

Cathy Engstrom/INHF

A BioBlitz participant nets, identifies and releases dragonflies. Experts and novices, working in our BioBlitz events, have already helped us identify more than 900 species at Heritage Valley.

Many people knew the basics about the property we’d bought from the estate of Forrest and Gladys Ryan. Now called Heritage Valley, this 1,224-acre site in Allamakee County contains wooded bluffs, limestone outcrops, goat prairies and three winding miles of the Upper Iowa River.

However, due to Forrest’s legendary ability to discourage trespassers, conservationists had only anecdotal stories about the biological and geological treasures his land might contain. We purchased the area with great expectations.

Luckily, Iowa’s conservation community is known for both its intellectual curiosity and its generosity. Members of the Iowa Natural History Association volunteered to help our staff organize a BioBlitz or “rapid inventory assessment.” Together, we recruited volunteers with expertise in everything from fish to fungi. We were thrilled by the number of naturalists willing to give up two weekends to help out: experts from colleges, universities, public agencies, private organizations, clubs and more.

Cathy Engstrom/INHF

Participants identified diverse mussel species in the segment of the Upper Iowa River that dissects Heritage Valley. The 1,224 acres we purchased from the Forrest and Gladys Ryan estate contain diverse plant and wildlife communities.

We invited experts only to our first BioBlitz in May so that we could perfect the inventory process. At the second round in July, experts and novices worked side by side, swinging nets at dragonflies, checking live traps for small mammals, floating on innertubes to look for mussels or poring over woodland plant guides to identify an unusual fern. Between forays, they’d excitedly gather around microscopes to view tiny lichen or insects — and everyone became a nature geek, at least for the day.

Thanks to all these volunteers, we’ve now inventoried more than 900 species on site. In addition to expanding statewide species research, this data is helping INHF staff develop the most appropriate land stewardship plan for this diverse property. The site is currently not open to the public, except for special events.

Starting in 2008, we’ll plant filter strips along the river, remove invasive brush from the hillside prairies and plant 31,000 trees in select river bottom areas. In an attempt to create a large contiguous block of oak/hickory woodland, we’re restoring two small, former crop fields in the middle of the existing hilltop woodland. We’re hoping to provide higher quality habitat for forest interior birds like the Cerulean Warbler, just one of the at-risk species documented during the BioBlitz.

Who knows what wild things we’ll find in our 2008 BioBlitz events?