Dewey's Pasture wetlands gain prominence

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This article was written and released in August 2006.

The August 23 dedication of a Bird Conservation Area (BCA) at northwest Iowa’s Dewey’s Pasture Wetland Complex highlights habitat restoration efforts of state, county, federal, and private conservation groups. The Dewey’s Pasture BCA may be the largest and most important wetland complex left in Iowa.

The 1:30 p.m. ceremony at the Lost Island Prairie Wetland Nature center, near Ruthven, recognizes the national importance of the complex for nesting and migratory grassland and wetland birds, said Bruce Ehresman, wildlife diversity program biologist for the Iowa Department of Natural Resources (DNR). The DNR is hosting the BCA event, which is open to the public and will include a driving tour.

The 79,000-acre BCA includes about 12,000 acres of public land, water, and conservation easements centered on the DNR’s Dewey’s Pasture-Barringer Slough-Lost Island Lake tracts in Clay and Palo Alto Counties.

The public lands also have been cited by the National Audubon Society as an Important Bird Area (IBA).  Audubon called the site “one of Iowa's most historic prairie pothole wetland areas. Its abundant marshes, shallow lakes and extensive grasslands offer significant nesting, feeding and migration staging habitat for waterfowl, shorebirds and others.”

Dewey’s Pasture also has been given National Natural Landmark status by the National Park service.

Bryan Hellyer, acting manager for the DNR’s Ruthven Wildlife Unit, said a recent  95-acre addition to the area made possible by the Iowa Natural heritage Foundation “fits right in with the Dewey’s Pasture Complex. It’s a beautiful piece of property” that will help connect other wetlands in the area, Hellyer said.

Bruce Mountain, land projects director for INHF, said the land was marginal cropland, most of which had been enrolled in the federal government’s Conservation Reserve Program (CRP). The INHF – a private, statewide conservation group – bought the land, negotiated a perpetual Wetland Reserve Program (WRP) easement, then resold it to the DNR at a substantial discount. INHF also has been involved in other projects in the area, including protection of a 155-acre parcel near Round Lake in 2002. 

Hellyer said work is nearly complete to restore six wetland basins totaling about 20 acres on the most recent acquisition. Upland areas have been seeded to local ecotype native prairie vegetation, he said. Although it will take a year or two for the wetlands to develop and the prairie to become established, “we’re about ready to start raising some wildlife and improving water quality.” 

“Everything is a by-product of water quality,” Hellyer said. Wildlife depends on clean water, as do the people who watch birds or hunt there, he noted. And the wetlands become filters that cleanse water before it reaches major streams.

“I like to base everything on water quality,” he said. “We need those types of areas to keep young people and to help local economies.”

Ehresman echoed the ecological significance of the region. “This area provides important nesting habitat for declining grassland birds, such as Northern Harrier, Bobolink, and Sedge Wren; for declining wetland species like American Bittern, King Rail, and Black Tern, plus it provides nesting and migration stopover habitat for many other bird species,” he said. He praised recent habitat protection efforts of groups like INHF and government agencies. Pheasants Forever and Ducks Unlimited also have been involved.

“With proper management, Dewey's Pasture BCA should become an excellent example of how "all-bird" conservation is implemented,” he said.

Bird watching and wildlife watching make up a $188 million industry in Iowa, Ehresman said. The new BCA could attract bird watchers from throughout the region, boosting growth of the local tourism economy and encouraging investment in local bird conservation, he said.