INHF Loess Hills WMA addition

This article was written and released in October 2009.

Heather Jobst

Part of the Jordan Zimmerman tract now that it is clear of Eastern Red Cedar. The land has been transferred to Iowa DNR to become a part of the Loess Hills Wildlife Management Area.

Western Iowa residents will have a brand new playground with high quality habitat for deer and wild turkeys when hunting seasons open this fall.

The 136-acre property, which the Iowa Natural Heritage Foundation transferred to the Iowa Department of Natural Resources, includes remnant prairie and oak woodland, in addition to some row-cropped land. The land is 3 miles west of Castana and 2.5 miles north of the town of Turin, and is a part of the Turin Special Landscape Area identified by the National Park Service. It will become part of the Loess Hills Wildlife Management Area.

Doug Chafa, a DNR wildlife biologist, said the area isn’t just another piece of soil.

“The Jordan-Zimmerman property is a great addition to the Loess Hills Wildlife Management Area,” he said. “Not only does it contain some great prairie remnants, it brings the public property out to the south gravel road, making public access more convenient.”

INHF, a nonprofit conservation organization, purchased the property at auction in April 2006 after the DNR expressed interest due to the site’s natural resources and proximity to an existing wildlife area. INHF held its ownership for three years while working to restore the land and secure funding. Non-native trees were beginning to take over the prairie, but INHF worked to stop the invasion.

“INHF interns, staff and volunteers spent 370 hours removing invasive Eastern red cedar trees from the diverse, high quality prairie on the property,” INHF Land Stewardship Specialist Brian Fankhauser said. “By working on the site we were able to ‘buy’ the prairie several decades and at the same time teach our interns about the uniqueness and challenges of managing prairie in the Loess Hills.”

Chafa said the DNR has already begun to convert the addition according to the department’s goals. DNR workers have created firebreaks and removed more Eastern red cedars in preparation for a controlled burn in spring 2010. The DNR’s plans also include removing a fence through the middle of the property, constructing a fence for the benefit of an adjacent cattle pasture and replacing the row crops with alfalfa to enhance habitat for game species.

All this work will benefit the property’s highlight attractions.

“The most important aspects of the site are the two ridges of Loess Hills prairie remnant,” Chafa said. “These rare prairies are unique in and of themselves, but to permanently protect them immediately adjacent to the large complex of the Loess Hills WMA really adds to the conservation benefits of this property.”

INHF is a nonprofit, conservation group that works with private landowners and other partners to protect Iowa’s land, water and wildlife. Since its founding in 1979, INHF has helped protect more than 100,000 acres of Iowa’s wild places.

Past INHF projects in Monona County include the Badger Lake Complex and Loess Hills WMA additions. For more information, visit www.inhf.org or call 515-288-1846.

INHF protects Loess Hills prairie remnants