Iowa Natural Heritage Foundation: Greens Space along West Okoboji Lake protected

An unusual conservation easement arrangement permanently protects a popular stretch of West Lake Okoboji shoreline known locally as the Green Space.

The Messengers of Healing Winds Foundation, a charitable group with many ties to this region, donated $500,000 to the site’s owners in exchange for their placing a conservation easement on the nine-acre site. Their funds went to Historic Arnolds Park, Inc. (HAPI)—formerly known as the Iowa Great Lakes Maritime Museum Board—the nonprofit group which owns the museum, Arnolds Park Amusement Park and the adjoining Green Space. The easement will be held and monitored by the Iowa Natural Heritage Foundation (INHF).

Though most INHF easements are on family-owned land and not open to the public, the Green Space has been enjoyed for years by Okoboji-area residents and visitors for activities ranging from family picnics to public gatherings and concerts. However, HAPI needs to retire debts and was getting tempting offers to sell the Green Space for private development.

Messengers of Healing Winds proposed placing a conservation easement on this site as an affordable, permanent way for HAPI to preserve its scenery, open space and public recreational opportunities. A conservation easement is a permanent, legally-binding agreement that limits how the land can be used—in this case prohibiting feedlots, housing or commercial developments, dumping and other uses.

“The Foundation is pleased to have been a part of a creative solution that will ensure permanency of the Green Space as a public gathering place,” said Andrea Waitt Carlton, president of the Messengers of Healing Winds Foundation. “We hope this gift, through the conservation easement, will enhance the quality of life for the Great Lakes area residents, families and visitors.”

Mark Ackelson, INHF’s president, agrees: “With this conservation easement, HAPI’s current board—and the general public—are now assured that no future board can compromise the Green Space to meet short-term financial needs. With this gift, Messengers of Healing Winds has purchased that peace of mind for all of us.”

Arnolds Park Green Space will stay green