Field notes

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This article first appeared in INHF's Spring 2007 Magazine.

by Darrel Mills, INHF’s Blufflands Coordinator

Photo by Joe McGovern/INHF

Standing in the middle of a 100-acre river bottom field tends to make a person feel small.

Surround that field with 10 times as much land—rolling vistas of forested bluffs stretching as far as you can see. Add a couple hundred unseen acres over the horizon and you start to have a sense of the property’s scale. Suddenly the crop field in which you are standing becomes small, and you feel even smaller—like one of the shorn-off soybean stubbles at your feet.

A flyover above the property showcases its diversity. Limestone outcrops and palisades drop 300 feet to the Upper Iowa River directly below. Thin soils on these steep slopes support occasional “goat” prairies. Mixed hardwood trees cover the gentler hills and bluffs.

The farm’s huge size, coupled with decades of single-family ownership, prevented virtually any access or infrastructure development. Meanwhile, large distances between public access points on this lengthy stretch of the Upper Iowa River barred all but the most dedicated anglers and paddlers.

As a result, this land is among the least-traversed places in Iowa, a true wilderness. Helping to protect it has been a continuous exercise in awe and humility.

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