Iowa Natural Heritage Foundation: Twin Ponds Wildlife Area addition

The Twin Ponds Wildlife Area, located southwest of New Hampton has recently added 71 acres that provide more recreation opportunities for hunters and anglers. The property will also allow an expansion of the county’s CCB headquarters and will benefit water quality in the Wapsipinicon River.

The newly protected land includes floodplain timber, some prairie and wetlands. Restoration of the timber stand and prairie will be priorities as the site is integrated with the Chickasaw County Conservation Board’s headquarters complex at Twin Ponds, which now totals 388 acres.

The Twin Ponds Wildlife Area is currently open for camping, picnicking, lake and stream fishing, hiking, hunting and also includes a bridle trail. During winter months, the park also hosts cross-country skiing and other winter sports. The CCB runs an on-site nature center as well as offices. The park is handicapped accessible.

The recent addition brought together a number of partners, led by the Chickasaw CCB. The Iowa Natural Heritage Foundation (INHF), a statewide nonprofit conservation group that helps public and private partners to protect Iowa’s land, water and wildlife, worked with the county to acquire and fund the site. Funding also came from the National Wild Turkey Federation, Whitetails Unlimited, the county’s REAP (Resource Enhancement and Protection Program) allocation and a North American Wetlands Conservation Act (NAWCA) grant that came through the Iowa Department of Natural Resources.

This was INHF’s first project in Chickasaw County, and the Chickasaw CCB director, Brian Moore, said other projects at the site are already under consideration. The addition is part of an ongoing plan to expand the Little Wapsi Wildlife Area. When Moore first contacted INHF, he was on a tight timeline.

“We had just a couple days to make it happen, and INHF was able to do that,” Moore said.

INHF Land Projects Director Heather Jobst said the project was a great beginning in Chickasaw County.

“We were pleased to be able to add to the CCB headquarters and help protect the Little Wapsi River at the same time,” Jobst said.

For the Iowa DNR, the site’s wetlands were a major attraction. The agency’s goal was to protect water quality and floodplain/wetland species.

“Our focus is protecting the floodplain of the Wapsi,” said Todd Bishop, DNR special projects coordinator. “This river, unlike a lot of them in Iowa, has not been separated from its floodplain.”

This project was the 14th parcel along the Wapsipinicon River protected with NAWCA funding. Those pieces include 890 acres that dot the river from the Minnesota border to its confluence with the Mississippi River at Clinton and Scott counties.

For more information about this project, go to the Chickasaw CCB website at www.chickasawcoia.org/conservation, or call 641-394-4714.

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

Expansion of nature complex benefits whole county