The Importance of Partners: Buffalo Creek Wildlife Area

Last weekend an addition to the Buffalo Creek Wildlife Area in Delaware County was dedicated, reminding us all that conservation is a task we cannot take on alone.

The Iowa Natural Heritage Foundation, in conjunction with numerous Pheasants Forever chapters, the Iowa Department of Natural Resources and a number of other partners, took on the challenge of restoring this area to all of its natural glory.

The area lies along the Buffalo Creek corridor in southwest Delaware County in a location that floods regularly. Local landowner Jim Takes opted to place an Emergency Watershed Program (EWP) flood plain easement on his property, which has joined other DNR acquisitions to become the latest addition to the  Buffalo Creek Wildlife Management Area. The area now consists of more than 1,100 acres and is open to the public for the enjoyment of hunters, fishers and lovers of the great outdoors.

“This is a great example of the wonderful projects that come about when local organizations work together,” says Heather Jobst, land projects director at INHF. “We can’t do these projects without great partnerships.”