Couple protects land along Mississippi River bluffs

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This article was written and posted on INHF's website in July of 2005.

Thanks to the initiative of landowners Dick and Shally Garin of Cedar Rapids, 83 acres of privately owned natural land overlooking the Mississippi River are now protected for conservation.

Last year, the Garins approached the Iowa Natural Heritage Foundation (INHF)—a non-profit organization that works to preserve Iowa’s natural land, water and wildlife—about entering into a voluntarily land-use agreement on their property just south of Lansing in the Mississippi River Blufflands.

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

The Garins’ agreement, also known as a conservation easement, now protects 83 acres of upland timber, prairie and oak savanna that provide habitat for a wide variety of wildlife, including the state-threatened Timber Rattlesnake.

 “The Garins are very conscientious stewards of the land,” said Darrell Mills of INHF. “It’s rewarding to work with people who care so much.”

The Garins’ property now forms part of a 650-acre complex of preserved wildlife habitat.  The adjoining properties include the Riverland Conservancy, a 240-acre parcel of protected property owned by Alliant Energy; a 180-acre protected property owned by Doug Mullen; and a 150-acre protected property owned Raleigh Buckmaster. Buckmaster and Mullen both worked with INHF to secure the easements that protect their properties.

The large size of the complex formed by these protected lands is crucial for the survival of many wildlife species, according to Mills.

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

Garin also noted his concern over the sharp divide between farmers and residential development. He sees the conservation of his land as forming a buffer that will allow farmers to continue raising crops and livestock undisturbed by development. “I eat beef, and northeast Iowa produces some of the best beef anywhere,” said Garin. “I’d like to make sure that continues.”

In addition to the 66-acre tract, the Garins protected the adjoining 17-acre property known as Jones Walnut Woods.  INHF gave the Garins the Jones Walnut Woods in exchange for 22 acres of land along the Upper Iowa River, provided the Garin’s permanently protected the Woods with a conservation easement.  INHF is in the process of adding the 22 acres they received from the Garins to a larger wildlife complex along the Upper Iowa.

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

While some landowners are reimbursed for the value of the relinquished land rights, the Garins donated the value of their land’s development rights to INHF.

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

For more information, e-mail Cathy Engstrom, Director of Communications, or call (515) 288-1846.Throughout Iowa, INHF has protected more than 80,000 acres of wild places. In addition to private land protection, INHF also works with landowners who want to sell or donate their land for public conservation areas.