Preserving the Bluffs

If you ask anyone in Council Bluffs, they know exactly what you’re talking about when you mention this steep, grassy hillside. 

It’s a prominent feature in the landscape as you enter town on I-80 from the west or I-29 from the south. It soars above as you drive past on Harry Langdon Boulevard. The city’s elders know it as the old Skyline Drive and Boy Scout Point. It puts the “bluff” in Council Bluffs. 

However, most people don’t know that this 29-acre property is not protected. It is not part of the adjacent Vincent Bluff Nature Preserve, which sits in a bowl-shaped valley behind the more visible tallgrass hillside. This iconic landmark doesn’t have the same protections for wildlife habitat, native plants and scenic beauty that the neighboring preserve has. 

In the late 1990s, Mildred Vincent noticed an ongoing threat of development around her land, so she sought a path to safeguard her sensitive Loess Hills prairie and woodland. In 2001, she worked with Iowa Natural Heritage Foundation, the Loess Hills Preservation Society and the City of Council Bluffs to sell the land and establish Vincent Bluff Nature Preserve. The site would later achieve State Preserve status, a very rare designation for a property in such an urban setting. 

Now, 25 years later, there is an opportunity to nearly double the size of the preserve by adding the 29 acres to the west.  

Once again, INHF is partnering with the Loess Hills Preservation Society and the City of Council Bluffs to pursue the purchase and permanent protection of this loess hills prairie and oak woodland property. The addition would protect more of this rare landform and allow public access to ridgetop trails that look west over Council Bluffs and the Omaha skyline. 

The site has remained in private ownership for decades, with periodic development interest over the years while also being identified in the city masterplan as being a place to preserve if the opportunity ever arose.

INHF has secured an option to purchase the land that allows time to privately raise the funds for the acquisition. INHF’s fundraising goal is $800,000 for the purchase and initial restoration activities. All funds must be raised by April 2027 in order to exercise the option and purchase the property. As with all other INHF projects, all money raised goes directly into the project. 

This spring, the Iowa West Foundation gave a lead gift of $387,000, jumpstarting the campaign to expand “the effective footprint of this natural community prairie and preserve Iowa’s unique ecosystems for future generations,” according to the Foundation. Since then, dozens of individuals, families and businesses have contributed to the project, bringing to total raised to more than $415,000. 

“We have seen incredible support for this project in the last few months, but we have long way to go to reach our goal,” said Abby Hade Terpstra, INHF director of philanthropy. “An amazing group of donors, volunteers and partners have made the preserve the special place that it is today. I’m confident this community can come together to do it again.”

If the property is successfully purchased, ownership will be transferred to the City of Council Bluffs, and property maintenance will be supported by the Loess Hills Preservation Society. It will be open for the public to enjoy, and a second access point may be added from the neighborhood to the north. 

“This project is important to the city because this tract of land was determined to be an area of highest priority for preservation as part of the Loess Hills Preservation Plan that the City adopted in 2001,” said Zach Smith, Park and Recreation Director for the City of Council Bluffs. “We are very excited for the opportunity to ensure the preservation of this scenic 29-acre piece of loess hills landform and enhance the Vincent Bluff Nature Preserve with this addition.”

 People interested in supporting this project should contact Abby Hade Terpstra at aterpstra@inhf.org or at 515-288-1846, ext. 15. INHF has a goal to raise $800,000 in private donations. We are more than halfway there thanks to a lead gift from the Iowa West Foundation and other generous individuals. Learn more and donate at inhf.org/Vincent-Bluff