Jim Wooley Family Tract opens at Heritage Hills WMA

A new 422-acre addition to the Heritage Hills Wildlife Management Area in Madison and Clarke counties has been transferred to the Iowa Department of Natural Resources and opened to the public.

The Jim Wooley Family Tract is a largely roadless mix of woodland and grassland, and its conveyance to the DNR was the result of a unique partnership between Iowa Natural Heritage Foundation (INHF) and Pheasants Forever (PF) and Quail Forever (QF).

PF & QF worked jointly with INHF to purchase the property in late 2024, and the groups collaborated to raise private donations to complement the public dollars needed to purchase the property. The project was featured in PF’s Build a Wildlife Area week, and hundreds of PF chapters and individuals contributed to the project.

Moving forward, the property will contribute to quality wildlife habitat, water stewardship, and support of rural communities with the economic revenue generated from hunters and recreationists visiting the one-of-a-kind property.

The site includes considerable grassland, woodland, and riparian habitats, which shows signs of remnant prairie. These grasslands will support bird species such as Henslow’s Sparrow, Eastern Meadowlark, Ring-necked Pheasant, and Northern Bobwhite. The adjacent Heritage Hills WMA was protected by INHF and the Iowa DNR in 2016 in a project that was supported by local PF chapters as well. The tract is one of the largest roadless wilderness areas in the state and has seen extensive native habitat restoration over the last several years, helping to create a popular hunting destination.

“The Wooley Tract is a project that appeals to people who love Iowa’s outdoors in many different ways,” said Abby Hade Terpstra, INHF’s director of philanthropy. “Dark sky enthusiasts, birders, hikers, hunters, proponents of rewilding, prairie botanists, ecologists… Here is a way for all of us to bring our passions together to protect a place where nature thrives.”

The Tract is named in honor of conservation legend, Jim Wooley, who was responsible for starting more than 125 local chapters of Pheasants Forever and Quail Forever in six states, has been the lead for many key habitat and partnership efforts in the state of Iowa, managed the organization’s very successful seed program, and has been a vital committee member of several southern Iowa chapters of Pheasants Forever.

“I’m so deeply honored,” said Jim. “And my family is deeply honored that [PF, INHF and the DNR] chose to name this after me, but I’m very cognizant that I stand on a lot of shoulders here. Every Pheasants Forever volunteer, every member who came to a banquet and supported us, every professional agency that worked cooperatively with us. All those folks had a role in this too and I can’t tell you how much I appreciate that support.”