|
Partners Pull Together To Protect Nolan Addition For Wildlife And Water Benefits
The 167 acre Nolan Addition to the
English River Wildlife Area brings a New Year’s gift to eastern Iowa from a
group of partners that include the former landowners, three counties, several
private organizations, and state and federal agencies.
The Nolan Addition brings the
public recreation area to 782 acres. The new land is on the west edge of the
wildlife area, adjacent to the South Fork of the English River. It will improve
the area’s value as habitat for waterfowl and other wildlife. It will also help
protect water quality and turn this flood-prone crop ground into a natural flood
buffer.
“I am amazed that we were able to
all get together so quickly, to complete this project and get it ready to open
to the public,” said Steve Anderson, Director of the Washington County
Conservation Board, who said the addition will predominantly be used for
hunting.
“We’re going to do everything to
make it the best wildlife area it can be,” said Washington County’s Anderson.
“It’s going to be nesting cover, winter cover, shrubs and wetlands.”
The former owner had enrolled the
floodplain crop ground into the federal Wetland Reserve Program, which meant it
could no longer be farmed, according to Bruce Mountain, Land Projects Director
with the Iowa Natural Heritage Foundation (INHF). With help from WRP funding,
the land is being restored as a wet prairie ecosystem, with several shallow
basins, swales and native grass seedings.
INHF initially acquired the land
from Clemencia Nolan and Martin C. Nolan, who donated nearly 50 percent of the
land’s value. Washington, Keokuk and Iowa counties secured the additional
funding needed to purchase the property with help from an Iowa DNR Wildlife
Habitat Stamp grant and three different chapters of Pheasants Forever, each of
which made generous donations.
INHF is a nonprofit, conservation
group that works with private landowners and other partners to protect Iowa’s
land, water and wildlife. Since its founding in 1979, INHF has helped protect
more than 100,000 acres of Iowa’s wild places. INHF had previously assisted in
another English River Wildlife Area expansion in 1989 as well as the Nolan
Family itself on a 155-acre project in Harrison County.
Conservation Education Center
2943 Highway 92
Ainsworth, IA 52201
319- 657-2400
Fax
319-657-2500
Electronic mail
General Information:
wccb@iowatelecom.net
Webmaster:
csinn@co.washington.ia.us
[ Home ] [ Up ] [ ERWA Map ] [ Nolan Addition ]
| 