Landowners, partners help protect
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Brian Fankhauser |
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Sugar Loaf Hill is a Loess Hills landmark in the Grant Center Special Landscape Area which will now be protected for the future with a conservation easement. The hill is the property of Marilyn and Maurice Byers and their neighbor Thomas Worrell. |
Neighbors in Grant Center Special Landscape Area
Eight neighbors southeast of Sioux City are protecting their land to help assure scenic vistas of the Loess Hills are preserved for the future. The Woodbury County families contributed a total land value of about $100,000 to help protect more than 400 acres, as part of a public-private initiative in the Grant Center Special Landscape Area.
The properties, near Smithland, have been enrolled in permanent conservation easements. All are along the Loess Hills National Scenic Byway, which is one of only two national scenic byways in Iowa (the other is along the Mississippi River).
The Grant Center SLA is one of the 12 Loess Hills regions identified by the National Park Service as particularly worthy of conservation. Before these easements, the Grant Center area had no land under permanent protection. All the other SLA regions have at least some areas that are permanently protected.
Under the conservation easements, the land remains in private ownership and is not open to public use. Easements terms are tailored to each property and owner, but they generally limit future development and prohibit mining of the loess soils and destruction of native prairie. The protected land is not open to public use, but public benefits include preservation of scenic views, native prairie remnants and habitat for wildlife, including butterflies, bobcats and wild turkey.
The 5,364-acre Grant Center SLA is a wedge-shaped area that stretches from roughly Highway 141 in Woodbury County to a point west of Ticonic in Monona County. The eight new easements are all in Woodbury County, where the conservation board is a key partner. The Woodbury County Conservation Board (WCCB) will monitor the sites to ensure that the easement terms are understood and respected by current and future owners.
Rusty Martin |
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George Waller of Mapleton (center) was the first of eight Grant Center area landowners to complete a conservation easement. Waller was honored at the first Gifts to Iowa's Future Day in April 2009. He was personally thanked by officials and legislators, including Iowa Senate President John P. "Jack" Kibbie (left) and State Sen. Stee Warnstadt, District 1. Waller's easement includes land that has long been farmed by his family. |
“Without the county conservation board’s leadership, this group of easements probably could not have happened,” said Brian Fankhauser, a land protection specialist with the Iowa Natural Heritage Foundation, a conservation group that coordinated the project.
The benefits to local citizens and visitors will be well worth the small investment, according to Rick Schneider, director of the WCCB. He views conservation easements as a cost-effective tool that can help agencies and landowners meet compatible interests.
“Conservation agencies can’t possibly acquire by fee title all the areas worthy of protection, nor do we want to do that,” said Schneider. “Easements can be crafted to protect special lands in a way that fits the landowner’s wishes. Protection goals can be accomplished while the landowner continues to control and care for the land, as agreed to in the easement document. And the land remains on the tax rolls.”
These easements include dramatic views of the rugged west slope of the Loess Hills landform, the expansive Missouri River valley and landmarks such as “Sugarloaf Hill,” an isolated loess deposit west of the scenic byway.
Marilyn Byers’ family has long owned part of Sugarloaf Hill, which will be protected in cooperation with Thomas Worrell who owns the other side of the hill. Marilyn remembers being fascinated by the hills since she was a girl, when her mother had a newspaper article that showed an aerial view of their hills and described the wind-blown soils that created the landform.
“We’ve farmed here a long time, but we’ve also tried to take care of it as a special place,” Byers said. “We’ve been working on restoration of some of the remnant prairies and trying to bring back wildflowers, like the bluebells that I knew of as a kid. We’re having some little miracles of success. So we were so excited to find out about this program that could help us. And I am so happy and thankful that some of our neighbors also want to be part of this effort.”
The Iowa Natural Heritage Foundation worked with the Byers and the other landowners and helped bring together the project partners, including the Iowa Department of Transportation. A grant from IDOT reimbursed landowners for 80 percent of the value of the easements to protect the “viewshed” of the scenic byway. The viewshed is the area that can be seen from the byway. To make the project work, the landowners had to donate 20 percent of the value of their easement, for a total contribution of $103,000.
Additional support for the conservation easements came from the Loess Hills Alliance, which helped cover the landowners’ appraisal costs. Private donations through INHF were also critical to create a permanent fund that will help the county conservation board monitor the easements.
Easement donors Charles and Judith Bromander were strong local supporters of the project. They describe their land as a “unique property that has one of the prettiest views around.”
“I really consider this easement part of following in the footsteps of my dad, who was a farmer active in conservation in the area,” said Charles.
And I would like to know that my grandkids can see this place as I have known it. It’s getting harder to find natural areas like this. We need a few left.”
To learn more about easements and other methods of permanent land protection, Iowans can download a copy of “The Landowner’s Option” a guide published by INHF. Call 515-288-1846 for a free copy by mail. Past INHF projects in Woodbury County include the Owego Wetlands Complex, several additions to Stone State Park and three private conservation easements in the Luton Special Landscape Area.
For more information, e-mail Ann Robinson at INHF or call 515- 288-1846.
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2010
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