Protected bluffs preserve habitat, scenery

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This article first appeared in the Summer 2005 edition of INHF's magazine.

by Nic Young

In the neighborhood surrounding Dick and Shally Garin’s property in Allamakee County, conservation is all the rage.

The couple approached INHF in 2004 about protecting their 83 acres of scenic Allamakee County bluffs after watching neighbors complete the process. Their property, just south of Lansing in the Mississippi River blufflands, adjoins 537 acres of protected land held by three private owners. The voluntary protection agreement they signed with INHF, also known as a conservation easement, helped form a 620-acre expanse of preserved, but still privately-owned, land.

Two of the other protected properties in the complex are also INHF projects: a 180-acre easement donated by Doug Mullen and a 150-acre easement donated by Raleigh and JoEllyn Buckmaster. A third parcel, the 207-acre Lansing Preserve owned by the Riverland Conservancy, lies across the road from the Garins’ land.

“Together, these protected lands provide a great deal of quality interior wildlife habitat,” said Darrel Mills of INHF. “By minimizing fringe habitat, the whole of this protected land is greater than the sum of its parts.”

The Garins’ easement permanently preserves upland timber, prairie and oak savanna. These areas offer habitat for a wide variety of wildlife species while providing spectacular scenery for the public.

“If I built a house on top of the bluff, it would have a one-way view,” said Dick Garin. “It would be great for me, but not for all the people down on the river.”

The Garins protected both their homestead and an adjoining 17-acre property known as Jones Walnut Woods with this easement. INHF traded its Jones Walnut Woods for 22 acres owned by the Garins on the Upper Iowa River, provided that the couple include the Woods under their conservation easement. The land INHF acquired along the Upper Iowa River, another key INHF project area, adjoins existing public land.

“We used the Iowa Natural Heritage Foundation as a tool, and everything we wanted for our land they provided without any pressure or hassle,” said Dick Garin, who grew up in this neighborhood.

Conservation easements are intended to protect land from activities like mining, livestock or construction that may diminish the site’s natural resource value. The Garins retain ownership and use of the land, while INHF is permanently responsible for ensuring that they and future owners follow the terms of the conservation easement.

 

Nic Young is an Iowa City native, Drake University student, Svare Family Intern and Robert R. Buckmaster Intern at INHF.

 

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