How Giving Gives Back

Since its founding in 1979, Iowa Natural Heritage Foundation along with its supporters and partners have protected more than 200,000 acres across the state. These projects were made possible by thousands of donors — motivated by a wide variety of reasons — some of whom have been with us since the very beginning. But preserving these natural lands is only part of the puzzle. 

INHF not only works to protect, but also restore Iowa’s land, water and wildlife. Replicating lost habitats and tending to sensitive ecosystems enhances the health of our environment, the health of our communities, the health of our minds and bodies, and healthy populations of species big and small.

Here’s a look back at just a few of the protection projects INHF supporters made possible, how the health of those lands and waters have improved since protection, and a snapshot of the species who have benefited from your generosity.

Clear Lake 

COUNTY: Cerro Gordo 

SUPPORTED BY: 244 donors 

YEAR PROTECTED: 2004 

MANAGING ENTITY: Iowa DNR 

INHF’s protection work around Clear Lake dates to the early ‘90s, when concerned residents were beginning to recognize the correlation between land use in the watershed and the lake’s water quality, algal blooms, soil erosion and dwindling flora and fauna. A combination of private land protected with conservation easements and lands now opened for public use have played a large role in the improvement of the lake’s recreational and natural resource value. 

A 26-acre woodland near the Ventura Grade and one of the last undeveloped sections of shoreline was purchased by INHF in 2004, thanks to a bargain sale by the landowners and support from donors and partners. The Ventura Cove Woodland protected riparian habitat that filters nutrients before entering the lake and filled in a portion of the now round-the-lake trail. When a nearby golf course was being sold ten years later, INHF was able to protect it so more prairie and wetland could be added in the watershed. 

Local landowners eagerly did their part to support the lake’s recovering health, too — conservation easements on several privately-owned parcels including Woodford-Ashland Lone Tree Point and prairie and wetland restoration on the 190-acre Sisters Prairie serve as examples for how a family’s decision can positively impact entire ecosystems. 

Angler’s Bay – Hales Slough WMA Addition 

COUNTY: Dickinson 

SUPPORTED BY: 1,350 donors 

YEAR PROTECTED: 2005 

MANAGING ENTITY: Iowa DNR 

 A casualty of shoreline development, vital aquatic vegetation (especially hardstem bulrush) had all but disappeared from Big Spirit Lake — except in this single bay. 

The 97 acres surrounding the bay were at risk of development, which would almost certainly destroy nearly a mile of the remaining aquatic vegetation needed by fish, waterfowl and other species. It was the costliest project INHF had attempted up to this point, but an upswell of donor and legislative support helped secure this ecologically sensitive portion of shoreline. 

Following protection, the area transferred to the Iowa Department of Natural Resources who undertook a large restoration effort. The management plan sought to improve the quality of the oak savanna along the shore to enhance wildlife habitat, prevent pollutants from entering the lake and better stabilize the soil. 

Today, the area remains a popular fishing, waterfowl and recreation spot. During migration this area is abundant with migratory birds such as the least bittern, bald eagles, peregrine falcons, teams of ducks and geese and special sea ducks that are rare visitors to the state. 

Heritage Valley

COUNTY: Allamakee 

SUPPORTED BY: 1,455 donors 

YEAR PROTECTED: 2007 

MANAGING ENTITY: INHF 

 Perhaps you’ve seen Heritage Valley’s oak-hickory woodlands, towering bluffs and goat prairies as you floated by on the three miles of Upper Iowa River that course through its valley. When INHF purchased the nearly 1,200-acre parcel from the Forrest Ryan estate in 2007, stewarding its expansive wilderness felt like uncharted territory. Bolstered by an emphatically supportive board and donations from nearly 1,500 supporters, in 2019 INHF took on the large task of thoughtfully and intentionally caring for its diverse landscapes. 

In the years that followed, sections were restored to prairie, enhanced with tree plantings, invigorated with prescribed fire and constantly gridded for invasive species like garlic mustard or sweet clover. Most recently, INHF worked with the Iowa DNR and the U.S. Forest Service on a Forest Legacy conservation easement on Heritage Valley and other properties in the neighborhood. 

Each year, a crew of land stewardship interns spend the bulk of their summer building on stewardship progress. If you’ve visited Heritage Valley for a volunteer event, you’ve been a part of this progress, too. The pasque flowers, five-lined skinks, jeweled shooting stars, flying squirrels and beavers thank you. 

Jennett Heritage Area 

COUNTY: Story 

SUPPORTED BY: 223 donors 

YEAR PROTECTED: 2009 

MANAGING ENTITY: Story County Conservation 

Jennett Heritage Area’s 171 acres looked quite different when it was first protected in 2009, but even then, it was evident the site held significant natural resources and restoration potential. An unplowed, remnant prairie occupied 21 of its acres, coupled with a small pond, wetland, woodland, upland habitat and portions of West Indian Creek and Grant Creek. Just off a paved road, it had all the makings of a great addition to the county parks system, and at the time of transfer it was the largest hunting area that Story County Conservation (SCC) owned. 

INHF worked with SCC on plans for extensive prairie reconstruction and restoration, which improved the remnant and buffered it from surrounding land use. In subsequent years, SCC enlisted the help of seasonal staff and Conservation Corps Minnesota & Iowa to remove invasive trees, conducted several floristic inventories and bioassessments in the creeks, and carefully used prescribed fire on less than 1/3 acre at a time to encourage the right habitat needed by insects and other sensitive species like the Henslow’s sparrow. Local origin seed was used in supplemental plantings. Flora has responded well to the extra TLC, and plants like prairie larkspur, fringed puccoon, prairie violet and blue-eyed grass now dot the hillsides. So far, 101 bird species and 277 native plant species have been documented onsite. 

But in 2024, mother nature provided the largest makeover when the EF2 tornado that damaged so many Story County communities ripped right through the center of the park, claiming most of the remaining trees. Nature is resilient, and the area is not only recovering but is now even closer to its historical appearance and composition, providing even more habitat for grassland-dependent species. 

Turin Prairie 

COUNTY: Monona 

SUPPORTED BY: 1,093 donors 

YEAR PROTECTED: 2013 

MANAGING ENTITY: Iowa DNR 

A long-shot, but a rare opportunity: that’s how INHF staff, board and supporters likely remember the protection effort around a 467-acre addition to Turin Preserve WMA. What started as an 80-acre project grew into much more when adjacent landowners learned of their neighbor’s plan to sell her land for conservation purposes. Recognizing the significant natural resource value of the land they owned, they also offered to sell so that all the area’s remnant prairie could be preserved in perpetuity. It was a tremendous prospect full of fundraising unknowns. 

INHF donors answered the call, trusting our ability to navigate measured risks. In four years, enough funds were secured through grants and donations from individuals and organizations. The area transferred to the Iowa Department of Natural Resources, who has continued to preserve the ecological integrity of its rolling hills cloaked in remnant prairie. 

For the majority of the addition, no major overhaul was needed — prescribed fire and a few prairie plantings simply supplemented what was already there. The restoration instead took place in the hearts of those who climbed to the tops of the addition’s hills, looking out over the vast, wild Loess Hills landform. 

Wallace and Bowers Nature Area

COUNTY: Dickinson 

SUPPORTED BY: 42 donors 

YEAR PROTECTED: 2018 

MANAGING ENTITY: INHF 

 As is true everywhere, land use of these 160 acres has a direct effect on the quality and quantity of water that flows out of its boundaries. In this case, the water exiting the Wallace and Bowers Nature Area immediately enters Big Spirit Lake — Iowa’s largest natural lake at over 5,500 acres — making it especially important to preserve and improve the land’s functionality as a natural sponge and filtration system for water quality. 

With support from visionary donors and in collaboration with the current farm tenant and local partners, INHF purchased the land with the intent of restoring ecosystem functions and committing to stewarding working land for the benefit of water quality, soil health and wildlife habitat. 

Eight years later, two restored wetland basins are holding water, prairie plantings buffer the lakeside edge, and INHF continues to work with a local tenant who practices no-till and uses cover crops on the portions that remain in production. Perennial vegetation is not only safeguarding one of Iowa’s most popular outdoor recreation destinations but offering additional habitat for the plants and wildlife that migrate through or call this area home, including trumpeter swans, Wilson’s snipes and mixed flocks of swallows.