2002 Annual Report

---

The Iowa Natural Heritage Foundation helped protect many of Iowa's special places in 2002: lakes, prairies, woodlands, wetlands and more. This page tells what we accomplished together in 2002. We've grouped projects according to their dominant ecosystems (or intended ecosystems if the area needs extensive restoration). But be aware that most land parcels, especially the larger ones, contain a mixture of ecosystems.

INHF's Spring 2003 magazine includes the text below but illustrates the projects with many more photos (which we didn't have permission to use on our website). If you'd like a complimentary copy of this magazine, contact Diane Graves and ask for the Spring 2003 issue.

Lakes

In 2002, INHF purchased 670 acres by East Lake Okoboji. The site borders Elinor Bedell State Park and is part of the Spring Run Wetland Complex. Its eroded stream corridor drains 29% of the lake's watershed. Restoring the stream corridor and wetlands will provide wildlife habitat while improving water quality in the lake. The Iowa DNR and Ducks Unlimited are funding the portion that will become the Larry Wilson Addition to Spring Run. INHF is working with the Dickinson County Water Quality Commission, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and other partners to fund other portions.

INHF assisted the Dickinson County Clean Water Alliance with publicity efforts to promote clean water. The group's new "Lakes Alive!" campaign, featuring mascot "Tadster," will go public in summer 2003.

INHF provided technical assistance to help four families purchase and protect a 110-acre wetland area called Miller Marsh just off Clear Lake. The new owners intend to protect and expand the wetland's water-filtering benefits.

INHF has been a state leader in protecting greenbelts, which are linear natural complexes often found in river/stream corridors. For example, INHF has worked with the Iowa River Greenbelt Trust and Hardin County Conservation Board for two decades to protect land in this natural and recreational corridor. In 2002, INHF protected two more parcels along the Iowa River in Hardin County: an addition to Pine Lake State Park (funded in part by the Gunderson Family Fund and REAP) and a private conservation easement owned by Bob and Joell de Neui.

Meanwhile, INHF protected several sites in other greenways, including the Raccoon River Greenbelt in Dallas County, the Little Rock River Greenbelt in Lyon County and the Upper Iowa River in Winneshiek County. INHF also worked with private landowners along Buttrick Creek to protect habitat for the federally endangered Topeka Shiner.

Trails

Greenways can also offer natural routes for trails, and INHF has been a leader in developing and promoting Iowa's nature trails for decades. For the past couple years, we've been working with a 10-state partnership to expand the Mississippi River Trail into Iowa. Now in the planning and development stages, the proposed Iowa route will run about 280 miles-mostly on special bike lanes along roads-linking 10 Iowa counties and many communities. The route will also incorporate existing trails and tourist attractions, like these "Sunday Afternoon in the Park" sculptures along Davenport's RiverWay Trail.

INHF and The Nature Conservancy (TNC) worked with the Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) to bring the federal Farmland Protection Program (FPP) to Iowa for the first time. This pilot project includes five, privately-owned sites in Iowa's Loess Hills. INHF acquired conservation easements on two sites: by Sylvan Runkel State Preserve in Monona County and on the Loess Hills Scenic Byway in Woodbury County. TNC's sites are located in Plymouth County near Broken Kettle Grasslands. INHF is now working with the NRCS and other private landowners to place FPP easements in northeast Iowa and elsewhere in the Loess Hills.

The FPP links agriculture and conservation, preserving natural resources while protecting the livelihood of those who live and work on the land. Partially compensated by FPP payments (along with contributions from the Loess Hills Alliance, Iowa Department of Transportation and private sources), willing farmers keep their land in private ownership and agricultural use-while using a conservation easement to permanently protect it from development, mining and other threats. The farms owned by Mark and Kay Crowl and Steve and Denise Bartel both contain native grass pastures. Their FPP easements buffer existing conservation sites and ensure wildlife habitat-while conserving family farms in highly developable areas.

Prairies and Savannas
Native ecosystems like prairies evolved with wildfires, grazing elk and other natural forces. Today, INHF staff, interns and volunteers through AmeriCorps and the Statewide Prairie Rescue mimic those forces when managing prairies and oak savannas throughout Iowa (including INHF's Breen Prairie Farm in Jones County, shown here). Typical land management tasks include burning, weeding, cutting invasive brush and harvesting seed used to restore other sites.

---

In late 2002, INHF purchased a Winneshiek County site that contains algific slopes and adjoins a refuge owned by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS). Algific (cold-producing) slopes are a rare ecosystem found on north-facing slopes in the hilly region of northeast Iowa. During winter, cold air penetrates and supercools underground rocks. As warmer weather arrives, melting water seeps into the rocks and instantly freezes-creating ice that persists throughout the summer. This cold microclimate supports several rare species, including Northern wild monkshood (Aconitum noveboracense), a federally threatened species. INHF is now transferring the algific portion of the site to the USFWS and the rest to a neighboring Boy Scout camp (with a conservation easement attached).

---

INHF continues its leadership role in the Blufflands Alliance, a four-state organization that protects the Upper Mississippi River bluffs. Because the Mississippi River is a major migration corridor, INHF just published A Bird's Eye View. This booklet provides public and private landowners with information about meeting the habitat needs of neotropical migrants. "Neotrop" species, including those pictured below, nest in the U.S. and Canada but winter in tropical Mexico, Central and South America and the Caribbean. Healthy forest habitat in the bluffs is essential to their survival.

---

INHF helped protect the following prairie pothole wetlands in 2002-serving as a purchase negotiator, interim owner and funding source. Most projects required additional funding sources, such as Wildlife Habitat Stamp, REAP, Ducks Unlimited or Pheasants Forever. All sites are or soon will be open to the public for wildlife habitat, nature study, hiking, hunting or other public uses.

1. 155-acre addition to the Dewey Pasture Complex in Clay County, now owned by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, managed by the Iowa Department of Natural Resources.

2. 52-acre addition to Fallow Marsh in Palo Alto County, now owned by the Iowa Department of Natural Resources.

3. 391-acre former lake bed, now owned by the Pocahontas County Conservation Board.

4. 160-acre addition to the Westmoreland Wetland Complex, now owned by the Pocahontas County Conservation Board.

5. 164-acre addition to Eagle Lake Wildlife Area, now owned by the Hancock County Conservation Board.

6. 40-acre addition to Yager Slough in Dickinson County, to be transferred to the Iowa DNR.

In 2002, INHF played a lead role in protecting a fen in Allamakee County, now owned by the Iowa DNR. We also helped raise funds to protect Fairbank Fen, now owned by the Buchanan County Conservation Board.

Fens are a rare and specialized kind of wetland, caused when mineral-rich springs constantly saturate the site. Like other wetlands, most Iowa fens have been destroyed by farming and urban development. Iowa's few remaining fens shelter rare species like this Fringed gentian (Gentianopsis crinita) and Baltimore checkerspot butterfly. To learn more about fens, see the Ecology College feature in our Summer 2002 magazine or on our website.

1. 160-acre addition to Swalve Wildlife Management Area in Osceola County.

2. 115 acres (two additions) to University 40 Park in Calhoun County

3. 61-acre addition to Kuennen Quarry Park in Worth County

4. 332-acre addition to Owego Wetland Complex in Woodbury County

5. 160-acre addition to Loess Hills State Forest in Harrison County

Conservation policy

INHF also helped rewrite rules for Iowa's Water Quality Revolving Loan Fund. The old rules covered only programs that treat polluted water, while new rules extend funding to programs that actually reduce non-point source pollution.

On the federal level, INHF provided research, expert testimony and organized support for the Conservation Security program within the 2002 Farm Bill. While thrilled that these conservation measures were signed into law, we now fear they'll fall victim to federal budget cuts.

INHF educates members, policy makers and media through our magazine, website, news releases, workshops, Hagie Heritage Award, involvement on the Iowa Conservation Education Council board, co-sponsorship of the Annual Wildlife in Art Show and countless other outreach efforts.

In 2002, INHF hired 10 college interns who helped protect Iowa's resources while building skills in communications, design, land management and landscape architecture. INHF's internship program is funded primarily by the R.J. McElroy Trust with additional support from the Svare Family Internship Fund and the Central Iowa Prairie Network.

Working with other conservation partners, INHF cosponsored events like the annual Statewide Prairie Rescue (pictured at right), National Trails Day and AARP's outdoor summer festival for grandparents and their grandchildren. Also see our upcoming events.

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