Kent Park gets
'pivotal' addition

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This article was written and posted on INHF's website in February 2002. 

Thanks to a new addition, Johnson County's Kent Park will grow by 43 acres and become easier to manage.

The Johnson County Conservation Board (JCCB) officially purchased the addition, known formerly as the Elmer Tomash Farm, on Jan. 22 from the Iowa Natural Heritage Foundation (INHF). INHF is a nonprofit conservation organization that assists such projects by providing interim ownership, technical advice and other services.

"This is a pivotal purchase," said Harry Graves, JCCB Director. The addition "squares off" Kent Park by extending it west to Echo Avenue and south to Highway 6. It provides a buffer that allows the park to maintain existing uses and add new uses in the future.

"This addition precludes rural residential development along the park's border, which would have diminished our ability to maintain the controlled deer hunt," said Graves. Before JCCB instituted the controlled hunt, the deer population in the park area was 200 per square mile, which led serious habitat destruction. The addition also buffers habitat for the state-threatened Ornate Box Turtle, which nest in the park.

Much of the addition is currently in row crops, and JCCB will continue renting it as crop ground for a couple of years while gathering funds and seed to replant it to native species. Long-term plans involve planting it with local ecotype prairie seed, developing wetlands and adding a trail. "Our long-term plan is that people on the hiking trails will see and enjoy native plants that grew in Iowa's pre-settlement days."

JCCB funded the land purchase with the county's Resource Enhancement and Protection (REAP) appropriation and with their trust account (which is funded by fees from camping, beaches, etc.).

For more information, contact the Johnson County Conservation Board.

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