Summer Solstice 2021 Inside This Woodland & Prairie Perspectives Issue “Let’s Connect” Project Update Mike Wallace, Conservation Director

During the summer of 2021 the Dallas County Conservation Board (DCCB) plans to tackle the next two phases in the “Let’s Connect” Trail Project. This project, of course, is the trail construction that will eventually connect the Raccoon River Valley Trail and High Trestle Trail, providing a first-class trail system that will attract tourism and commerce to Dallas “Let’s Connect” Trail Project Update County, as well as increase the quality of life for residents. This summer, Phase III will continue the paving of another one-mile section of the trail Forward Thinking near Woodward, heading west. In addition, Phase IV will continue the eastward movement of

New Growth at the trail by Perry, up to M Avenue. Besides the pavement itself, the biggest effort of Phase IV Kuehn will be the construction of a bridge over Beaver Creek. We received some good bids for the two projects and we are looking forward to the next steps in completing this great trail BRR Exhibit connector. After this summer, we will have about 4 miles completed out of the approximately Calendar of Events 9 miles total project. Yep, the pieces are coming together, one at a time. For 2022 we are hoping for a grant and matching dollars for the City of Woodward Phase. Meet the DCCB Intern This phase brings the trail from the west side of Woodward right to the High Trestle Trail Trailhead parking lot. For 2023, we Promoting a Healthy are looking at the possibility of River extending eastward from where A Shortage of Water, Phase IV will end this summer. Not Ideas Hopefully, this phase will include

Water IS Sacred starting at M Ave and ending at 128th Place, utilizing land adjacent Axes or Beavers? to Beaver Creek. continued on page 2

Published by Dallas County Conservation Board email: [email protected] ♦ www.dallascountyiowa.gov/conservation 1

Woodland & Prairie Perspectives

“Let’s Connect Trail Project Update” continued from page 1 We have a route in place, but we are still working to get the best alignment possible. This project will link two of the premier recreational in – the Raccoon River Valley Trail and the High Trestle Trail (the We need, depending on exact construction location and design, project is actually an extension of the High Trestle Trail). This new approximately $1 million - $1.5 million to complete the fundraising. connection of two major trails will create an 86 mile loop and 118 Much of this will be accomplished by applying for state and federal mile loop, allowing trail users more options than ever before. grants, but even those grants require a match, so every dollar donated does actually help. Funds are still needed to build this crucial connection in the central Iowa trail network, which now includes more than 600 miles of To financially support the “Let’s Connect” Trail Project, visit paved trails and connects more than twenty-four towns around the dallascountyiowa.gov/services/conservation-and-recreation/ Des Moines metro area and beyond. Approximately 85% of the conservation/let-s-connect-trail-project. estimated $6+ million overall project has been raised. Donations of all sizes are tax-deductible. Donors of $1,000 or more The reason for the wide range of the cost estimate is due to many may choose to receive recognition on trailhead signs. still unknown factors, some of which include what the last negotiated Please direct questions to me at cost for some key land parcels would be and also because some of [email protected]. Together we can make this the final design work on different phases of the optional trail project a reality! alignments is still being considered. Location of “Let’s Connect” with completed phases, Multiple major trail loops for Central Iowa two that will be done this summer, and possible phase extension of Phase IV (M Ave. to 128th Pl.) in 2023 created when “Let’s Connect” is complete

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Natural Resources

Forward Thinking So why should we care? Seed that gets spread can form dense, thorny thickets of Callery that outcompete our native species, Curt Cable, Deputy Director/Biologist especially slower growing trees like oaks and hickories that are so important to our wildlife. Callery can also have a significant cost to Over the years we have advertently and inadvertently introduced livestock farmers and taxpayers for their removal in pastures, parks, species into our landscapes with no intentions of consequence. natural areas, road rights-of-way and greenspaces, etc. However, we have found that the consequences are often grave for As Dallas County continues to grow and more Callery Pear our native species. For example, multiflora rose was introduced with cultivars are planted, the risk to our adjacent pasture lands, natural the intention of providing wildlife cover and for use as a living fence areas and wildlife becomes greater. row. The consequence is that it now crowds out native trees and So what can I do to help? Stop planting Callery Pear! Remove shrubs in open forest, forested edges and anywhere else it can take your current trees and replace them with native alternatives like hold. Teasel was introduced with the intention of creating fabric and plum, dogwood or a native crab apple. Be sure to cut and treat the floral arrangements. The consequence is, if left unchecked, it will stumps or remove the rootstock to prevent invasive re-sprouts from create a monoculture that crowds out all native vegetation. When forming. Become familiar with the look and growth form of Callery planning your next planting project, be sure to do your research. and notify the appropriate agency or your County Weed Some invasive plants can still be purchased, such as Burning Bush Commissioner if you see a wild population starting. and Callery Pear, also known as Bradford Pear. While talking with Jim the other day, he said he has noticed a spike Please read this article from Dallas in Callery Pear in just the last two years. County’s Roadside Biologist, Jim He went from just three sightings in Uthe, entitled “Callery Pear – a New 2020 to around 70 in 2021, with Threat to Dallas County Pastures countless others hiding out of sight. The and Natural Areas”. main epicenter for this invasion is occurring in southeast Dallas County The Callery Pear (Pyrus around the Adel, Waukee, and Van calleryana), commonly called Meter areas. Bradford Pear, has begun showing up in roadsides, woodlands and pastures across Dallas County. In In a recent article published in the local recent years, it has been planted as newspapers, the Director of Horticulture an ornamental in yards and other and General Manager of Brenton landscaped areas because of its Arboretum, Adam Schmitz reported that dense white blossoms. Callery Pear invading an open field. he is beginning to cut down all of their Callery Pear is native to China Photo credit: Alabama Cooperative Extension System ‘Autumn Blaze’ Callery Pear trees. Schmitz is and cultivars were developed to be self-sterile. Initially, only the removing them because they started to produce fruits Bradford Pear cultivar was available, but it was found to be and to prevent spread within the arboretum and surrounding areas. structurally weak. Now, there are over two dozen Callery Pear cultivars, and when planted closely, within several city blocks, Early detection, swift action, and continued monitoring can stifle any pollinating insects will cross-pollinate the cultivars and fruits will new invasion. With invasions already underway and many more to develop. Birds eat the fruits and spread viable seed across the come, be sure to keep your eyes open as this will need to be a landscape. Trees can also become injured at the rootstock and collective effort to keep them at bay. To double down on Mike sucker, if the suckers are allowed to flower, they can flower and Havlik’s spring newsletter article…PLEASE PLANT NATIVE cross-pollinate with the rest of the tree and develop fruits also. VEGETATION.

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Nature Notes

New Growth at Kuehn Conservation Area Chris Adkins Environmental Education Program Coordinator

Austin Goodrich Memorial Council Ring In the past, DCCB’s formal education field day experiences and public programming at Kuehn have originated on a pressure treated lumber deck, surrounded by well-manicured mowed lawns. This setting is not the point of origin most conducive to our invitation for learners to explore Kuehn and grow wild. Thanks to the generosity of the family of Austin Goodrich, this is will all change. Austin grew up as a youth in the Earlham school district. Some of his favorite days of school were the The nearly-finished council ring numerous field days his classes spent at Kuehn. These encourage learners to do just experiences were a catalyst for Austin forming a strong that. Future lessons at Kuehn bond to nature, as his youth was filled with time spent will now begin with a walk down a trail, stepping inside out-of-doors, growing wild. the prairie. Inside, learners will now be positioned, Tragically, Austin’s life was cut short. His family surrounded by the tall prairie grasses and flowering chose to honor Austin, recognizing his love for the wild forbs, to experience the memory of this land. lessons of Kuehn, by sponsoring a memorial council The Goodrich family, in their remembrance of ring. Now, the deck and lawns will be replaced by a Austin, has helped DCCB to better share the wilds of much wilder origination point. Learners will now begin Kuehn with learners. The next time you visit Kuehn, their lessons at a fire ring of locally sourced stones, come visit the council ring. Sit, listen and remember. centered on a surface encircled with bison tracks, seated Austin, and his love of nature, will be remembered with on log benches, marked by cedar spires in the four each lesson that is shared at Kuehn. directions, immersed in the wilds of Kuehn’s reconstructed prairie. Hidden Prairie Trail Re-Route A long-standing philosophic underpinning of One of Kuehn’s most popular trails, the Hidden DCCB’s Environmental Education program is captured Prairie Trail, led visitors to an ecological gem. Hidden in a phrase shared with us by Elders of the First Nations Prairie, unlike the other prairies at Kuehn, was not an Peoples. It states- “Come stand inside our stories, and ecological reconstruction effort utilizing the science of experience the memory of the Land.” The memorial ecosystem restoration to grow back Kuehn’s wildness. council ring that Austin’s family donated to Kuehn will Hidden Prairie is a relic, the original wild, representing Kuehn’s native ecosystem. Only 0.1% of the prairie ecosystem remains in Iowa and that is Hidden Prairie’s ecological heritage, the first story of Kuehn.The Hidden Prairie Trail led visitors directly into this relic. Much research and investigation determined that DCCB unintentionally created a situation where we were loving our wildest places to death. Foot traffic, even restricted to the perimeter of the Hidden Prairie, was extracting a cost to the relic. We needed to get hikers off of this gem and afford it an opportunity to heal and expand. Pouring cement for the new Council Ring at Kuehn Conservation Area Continued on page 5

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Nature Notes

“New Growth at Kuehn” continued from page 4 reaches out to DCCB to help inoculate their 6th grade students with the spirit of volunteerism- a critical lesson Towards this goal, DCCB closed the old Hidden in their curriculum. These young learners got an Prairie Trail loop that encircled the relic. From the new opportunity to give back to the Kuehn Conservation Hidden Prairie Trail terminus, the public is invited to Area, a site of numerous field day lessons for K to 6 view this ecological gem, from a short distance, as we grades, a chance to “pay their rent to Mother Earth” as it work to encourage not only its preservation, but its were. Over 160 ADM 6th graders formed a bucket expansion. In the coming season, DCCB will place brigade to move mulch along the entirety of the new interpretive signage at the terminus, to help the public Hidden Prairie Preservation Trail. Job well-done, friends observe and understand our preservation efforts. and volunteers! Knowing that this trail was a portal for many of you to wander out into the wilds at Kuehn, we created a re- routed trail, the Hidden Prairie Preservation Trail, which replaces the closed loop. This trail in itself is a great story. The trail tread was cut into the woods of Kuehn this spring by 11 football team members volunteering from Central College. The offensive line coach of this group, Eric Jones, is a life- time friend and childhood resident of Dallas County. Josh Dolezal, professor and chair of the English Dept. at Central, shares a friendship rooted in a common bond to the Selway-Bitterroot Wilderness of Idaho, home of DCCB’s wilderness treks. These two conspired to engage this group in a community service project rooted ADM 6th graders haul mulch for the new trail at Kuehn Conservation Area. The final link in this trail’s story is found in the generosity of J. Pettiecord Inc., a business of rural Earlham. Pettiecord has established a mulch production and distribution site in the old quarry north east of Earlham. Eight dump truck loads of mulch were donated by Pettiecord to provide the trail surface, learning opportunities for local youth, and a re-routed trail for visitors to Kuehn. A big thanks goes out to Pettiecord for their help on this new trail project. On your next visit to Kuehn, please return to the Hidden Prairie and view one of Kuehn’s wildest pieces. Continue your adventure by trekking the new Hidden Prairie Preservation trail and listen for the stories of all the volunteers that contributed to this new invitation to grow wild. Central College football team members create the new Hidden Prairie “Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful Preservation Trail. committed citizens can change the world; indeed it's the only thing that ever has.” in stewardship at Kuehn. Thanks to these souls for ~Margaret Mead cutting the new re-routed trail and allowing us to Our small group of citizens indeed changed the world continue to invite you into Kuehn’s wilds. in a wild way at Kuehn. Each spring the Adel-Desoto-Minburn middle school

5

Museum Musings

Bike Ride to Rippey Exhibit Pete Malmberg, Museum Curator One of the most iconic events of modern Perry and Dallas County history is the Bike Ride to Rippey, which is appropriately shorted to “BRR”. This bicycle ride from Perry to Rippey is held the first Saturday of February each year, and has become a mainstay in the Perry community over the last four decades. Forest Park Museum is pleased to host an exhibit about this unique event for the 2021 season. 1977 marked the first BRR ride, when local residents Jim Walstrom and Dennis Hurley came up with the idea while sitting around in the gloom of a blustery February day. Eight riders decided to accompany them on the freezing journey from Perry to Rippey and back. The following year, 10 additional riders joined, doubling their group total, for a one-hour ride. One member of the group was disappointed that it wasn’t colder and the roads were so clear. 1979, however, proved more of a challenge. Only 12 riders braved 10 degree weather for a very frigid experience. Fortunately, participants were treated to coffee and hot chocolate at the Rippey Tap before the return journey. By 1980, word was getting out about the unique ride. 54 cyclists endured 12 degree weather. Riders came from all over central Iowa and were even joined by a foreign exchange student from Switzerland. The media came out in full-force the following year, assisted by 32 degree weather, and hot chocolate was provided by the Hager family at the halfway point. WOI and KCCI TV both sent crews into the field. During the early 1980s, attendance fluctuated considerably, but by the mid-1980s, hundreds of riders participated annually. By the late 1980s and 90s, it was not unusual to have well over 1,000 riders and sometimes several thousand participants. Bike clubs from as far away as Colorado began to make it an annual event. Over the years, numerous media personalities and characters participated or covered the ride, sometimes using less- than-traditional equipment. One rider rode an ancient Black Phantom bike with balloon tires, upper fork tank, headlight and horn that weighed 60 pounds. Two other riders rode unicycles. Another rode a 1941 Schwinn. In spite of the pandemic, the 2021 ride was another success! Come visit Forest Park Museum this season to see t-shirts and other memorabilia from this unique local tradition. We

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Calendar of Events

Calendar of Events Meet DCCBs 2021 Intern July 11-16 Iowa Project AWARE Mandy Heeren Iowa Project AWARE (A Watershed I'm Mandy Heeren, Dallas County Conservation Board’s Awareness River Expedition) is a intern for the summer. I'm a senior interactive digital volunteer-driven river clean-up, exploration, education adventure that studies (graphics) major and public history minor at began in 2003. Each year 200+ volunteers gather on a designated University of Northern Iowa. I wanted to intern here stretch of river, and this year’s target is the 63.2 miles of the Middle & South Raccoon Rivers flowing through the heart of Dallas because I visited many times through DC-G schools and County. Visit Project AWARE’s website to learn more about this 4-H and adored it, especially the museum buildings, of great opportunity to join with volunteers from across the state to help clean our rivers. https://www.iowaprojectaware.org course! DCCB is fantastic to work with as a student. I've been able to customize a lot of the work I'm doing to fit Saturday, Sept 11 Prairie Awakening/Prairie Awoke my passions – including crime history, photography & Kuehn Conservation Area, 3 - 9:00pm Much can be learned while watching children at play - music – as well as areas I need help in – like anything planting the seeds environmental. Come visit us this summer and say hi! The Celebration will encourage us to recognize the challenges we faced this year, while seeking a path of hope and healing for the year to come. Drummers and dancers in regalia will present their art. Dallas Chief Eagle will share his message through a Hoop Dance presentation with audience participation. A rehabilitated raptor and tagged monarchs will be released. The event is free. Concessions available. Bring a lawn chair. Further details will be released on DCCB’s Facebook page and weekly eNews.

Sept 6-30 Monarch Watch Project Kuehn Conservation Area & Voas Conservation Area The Monarch Watch Project shares the mysteries of monarch migration and engages you in the tagging research project. Net in hand, you will wander the prairies at Kuehn and Voas, capture a monarch, record the field data, tag and release a miracle. Tagging programs typically happen on weekday early evenings and weekend mornings. When the time of monarch migration approaches, further details and registration will be released on DCCB’s Facebook and weekly eNews. *As the Covid landscape changes, more programs could be added. Watch DCCBs Facebook and weekly eNews for details.

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Natural Resources

Promoting a Healthy River users utilizing this launch and take-out site. With increasing popularity, we have witnessed a higher than Greg Sieck, Natural Resource Manager normal trash rate. Our river is a part of our ecosystem and will not be sustainable if we treat it poorly. We need to pick up after neighbors It’s hard to believe this will be and ourselves. The Raccoon River is a valuable resource, not just to my eighth summer newsletter Dallas County, but also to those in the entire watershed. article. Over the years, watching Last year we teamed up with the Iowa Department of Natural summer come and go from the Resources and gave out hundreds of river clean-up bags. Our staff wilds of Dallas County, I have stocks the river bags at each landing weekly. With hundreds of really enjoyed living here. With floaters, kayakers, canoers, and boaters hitting the water, you can friends all around Iowa, I quite imagine the bags go fast. If often travel out of Dallas County, you’re planning a float and but it always has me coming would like to help keep our back. rivers clean, please grab a bag Raccoon River near Van Meter One reason is that I reside in the when available or throw in one park here at Kuehn Conservation Area. The other reason is that of your own with your Dallas County has everything I could ever ask for. We have the most supplies. fruitful rivers in all of Iowa running directly through and the Lastly, I want to give a big amenities of the big city are just a cruise down the road. The shout out to our staff for going abundance of whitetail deer roam our forests and the public land above and beyond keeping our tracts are large, where anyone can go to explore. areas clean and pristine for Summer is a time for recreating and getting outdoors. My favorite everyone to enjoy. Have fun summertime activity is exploring and fishing the Raccoon River. The and be safe while enjoying the hottest spot in Dallas County in the summer is our very own Raccoon Rivers. Puckerbrush Boat Ramp. Growing pains with this actively growing trend led us to double the size of our grass parking lot for public Booneville Boat Ramp, near Booneville

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Calendar of Events

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Nature Notes

A Shortage of Water, Not Ideas Notice the choice of the letter “a” in the mantra. Cindy Blobaum, Naturalist Dilution is not the solution to pollution; in fact, it is not really a solution at all. Dilution is a treatment. Solutions Drought: a prolonged period of abnormally low rainfall, look at problems and determine ways to change the leading to a shortage of water. factors or alter the equations. One factor we cannot Throughout much of the past year, Dallas County has change is the amount of water we receive. been in drought. The lack of water has been especially Currently the conditions in Iowa are nothing evident when looking at rivers and streams. The water compared to the multi-year megadrought being channels have been mere trickles, with broad reaches of experienced in western United States and other parts of exposed sand and gravel. On the plus side, the low water the world. While it is a topic of nearly constant levels have provided a welcome opportunity for safer conversation and comparison, our drought might be play for some younger explorers and encouraged us to fairly quickly mitigated by a series of timely saturating visit and document the rains. However, the remnants of a historic concerns will continue, fishing weir on the North as there is increasing Raccoon River. evidence that our The list of negative climate patterns have impacts in much longer, been changing and including severely generally drier restricted movement and conditions could habitat for aquatic become the norm. wildlife, stressed growth Archeological finds and development of coupled with studies of plants of nearly all kinds, tree rings, lake and concern for the sediments and ice cores availability of potable tap indicate that past water. For as the amount droughts may have of water flowing through Young explorers in the North Raccoon River near Snyder Tract contributed to the dispersal and our rivers decreases, the impacts of pollutants (already a disintegration of long-established civilizations including noted problem in our waterways) increases. An oft- the Anasazi of the Southwestern U.S., the Ming and quoted mantra to the pollution issue relies on the ready Tang Dynasties of China, and even modern Syria. To availability of copious amounts of water: dilution is a secure our future, we need to take a hard look at how we solution to pollution. think of water, how we use it, its Continued on page 11

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Nature Notes through natural and man-made systems, and successful ways and ditches to using native plantings adapted to strategies, both large and small, conceived and tested drier conditions. around the world. Here are a few examples of ideas that - Slowing the movement of water through design and can work: construction principles with ideas such as permeable - Planting and tending species that require less water. pavement, rainwater harvesting, and even green roofs. Many areas with already low precipitation have moved - Natural retention of water through land management away from large expanses of lawns and mowed rights-of- practices that reduce runoff and evaporation losses including wetland holding areas, cover crops, and no-till practices. As Mike Havlik states in his newsletter article, water is life. Naturalist Chris Adkins often tells students water is a miracle and the primary substance we look for on our explorations to the moon and Mars. Natalie Babbitt’s young adult novel “The Search for Delicious” follows a young man on a royal mission to write a dictionary. He gets stumped with the word delicious because no one agrees with each other’s examples. It ends with hot, thirsty citizens getting a drink from a spring that was maliciously dammed causing a drought being reopened and agreeing: clear, cold water is Remnants of the historic fishing weir on the North Raccoon River delicious.

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Nature Notes

Water IS Sacred

Mike Havlik, Naturalist

Several years ago I was invited to a Lakota Sundance ceremony where some of the participants were fasting. Since it was summer and the day was especially hot, I carried a water bottle in an effort to stay hydrated. One of the grandmothers saw me and took me to the side, quietly scolding me as grandmothers do. “You don’t bring water into this area! Are you trying to torment the dancers? They have been without water for two days!” I was a little shocked but also embarrassed. I asked, “What do I do?” “Take it out of sight, but don’t dump it or spill it. Around here, water is sacred.” Water is sacred. I thought this for most of my adult life but never heard anyone say it. Water IS sacred but we don’t think of it as such. We turn on a faucet and it magically appears. I later learned a Lakota phrase supporting this idea -- Mni Wiconi, or water is life. That day and that grandmother’s words stay with me. I try to remind myself by asking questions. Is drinking a glass of water sacred? How about making coffee? Watering my garden? What about washing the car? Recently, American Rivers declared the Raccoon River as the 9th most polluted river in the United States. Looking for scapegoats and assigning blame is easy, but each of us bears some responsibility. Every one of us lives in a watershed. We can consider our day-to-day usage, but I believe we can take bigger steps to mitigate the quantity and quality of water that leaves our property. After all, water is life. Step off the curb and read the two, three-word phrases that are part of storm sewers: DUMP NO WASTE, FLOWS TO RIVER. Usually a loon, worm, fish, or whale are also forged into the ironwork. These phrases remind us that what goes into the storm drain doesn’t simply go away. The simple act of planting a tree can slow down and help purify water. Storm drain in Waukee continued on page 13

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Nature Notes

Continued from page 12

If you know me, I have a passion for birds. In a recent newsletter article, I touted the importance of planting native trees to provide food, mostly caterpillars, for our songbirds. The good news is that those native trees are also really effective in slowing down the rate in which water comes off your property and FLOWS TO RIVER. Anyone who has stood under a tree in a downpour knows the canopy, branches, and bark slow the rate at which the water reaches the ground. Tree roots capture the water and slowly release it into the soil, or store it and release it to the air through Creek at Kuehn Conservation Area in Spring 2021 evapotranspiration. Leaf litter is also important in slowing the flow by acting as a sponge. The trees’ constant intake of water dries out the soil, making it capable of receiving additional rainfall. Planting a tree is not a quick fix to water quality issues, but it is a step in the right direction, also serving as a gesture of goodwill. The problem was created over time and will take time to fix. Water is sacred, water is life. Water needs a living, dynamic, and organic process to become physically restored.

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Natural Resources

Axes or Beavers? trees along our trail seems to be focused mainly on hack- Matt Merrick, Natural Resource Manager berry and ash trees. Hackberry is a native tree of Iowa but is usually considered to be part of an early-seral forest. When

In the spring, the Raccoon River Valley Trail gives the hackberry is removed by the beaver, an opening of light visitors a great opportunity to see an abundance of wildlife to the forest floor is created, making way for later tree migrating through our great state. Giant flocks of ducks and species to grow. “What kind?” you might ask. Oak and the occasional rare song bird passing are easier to spot. hickory and a variety of shrubs more than likely, I predict. When spring turns to summer, these temporary visitors are This new growth will promote a greater tree diversity and mostly gone and the forests along the trail spring to life actually cover the forest floor in more vegetation, creating with an abundance of vibrant green foliage. less erosion, in my experience. While riding or walking the trail, you may see something The effects of the beaver lodge appear fairly quickly. else has changed with the forests. While green leafy foliage Water will back up, creating a natural pond behind it, while makes it harder to peer deep into the trees, you may see still allowing a small trickle of water, which tends to be open gaps in the timber that someone or something has much cleaner than before. The damming of streams by created. Yes it’s true, you will see crews on the trail cutting beavers slows water down, reducing flooding and erosion, down hazardous trees or invasive species throughout the while also giving nutrients and sediments the opportunity to summer, but something else is afoot. Already this year, I’ve settle. The buildup of sediments allows algae to grow, been warned multiple times that someone is cutting down which creates a whole food chain that supports thousands of trees with an axe. After inspection, it is clear to me that the organisms and invertebrates. Lastly, the beaver dams create culprit isn’t an axe- wielding logger, but is the work of excellent homes for wood ducks, teal and all kinds of fish beavers. species to thrive. West of Adel and north of Redfield, evidence of the Did I make a good case for the beavers? I hope so. Being beaver abounds. Generally all of our trail bridges span some on the trail most days of the week, I get asked many type of water source and this is where one can see the different questions each day. If it wasn’t for someone effects created by the beavers. Open patches of forest with asking about an axe wielding logger on the trail, I would not trees cut down to about a foot above the ground in the shape have taken the time to sit back and really think about beaver of pointy toothpicks are a dead giveaway. activity and their effects on the environment. I hope after One might think that these beavers are destroying the reading this you will take the time to find something timber and creating an opportunity for erosion and all sorts interesting or unique along the trail and ask the question of other problems, but in some cases, that couldn’t be yourself. Who knows…your question may be in the next further from the truth. From the perspective of the trail newsletter. manager, beavers create some problems, but the ecological Beaver dam, north of Redfield along the RRVT benefits they create generally out- weighs the negatives. The main purpose of beavers cutting down trees is to make a lodge (dam) and as a food source. Most of the trail is surrounded by forest or pasture land. This gives the beavers an opportunity to thrive along the trail without creating too much havoc on the actual infrastructure. The immediate effects of beavers can be unsightly and worrisome to most but hear me out. The cutting of

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Natural Resources

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Raccoon River Greenbelt Newsletter Published by Dallas County Conservation Board

(515) 465-3577 [email protected] www.dallascountyiowa.gov/conservation

Dallas County Board of Supervisors Dallas County Conservation Board Staff Kim Chapman Mike Wallace…………………………………..Conservation Director Brad Golightly Sherry James…………………………..…Administrative Coordinator Mark Hanson Curt Cable………………………………...Deputy Director/Biologist Pete Malmberg………………………………………Museum Curator Dallas County Conservation Board Chris Adkins………...Environmental Education Program Coordinator Mike Havlik………………………………………………...Naturalist Nancy DeLong - Chair Cindy Blobaum……………………………………………..Naturalist Mark Powell - Vice Chair Greg Sieck………………………………...Natural Resource Manager Keith Troester - Secretary/Treasurer Matt Merrick………………………………Natural Resource Manager Lorinda Inman Chris Fitch…………………………………………...Office Assistant Marlen Kemmet Sarah Gilchrist ………………………………...Outreach Coordinator Mike Murphy…………………………...Natural Resource Technician Bob Myers……………………………....Natural Resource Technician No qualified individual with a disability will be excluded on the basis Jamie Zika………………………………Natural Resource Technician of a disability from participation in meetings, hearings, programs, activities or services conducted by the Dallas County Conservation James Barger…………………..Seasonal Natural Resource Technician Board. To request information in an alternative format or request an Aaron Hendrix………………...Seasonal Natural Resource Technician accommodation to participate in a meeting, hearing, program, activity Grant Buresh…………………………..Seasonal Maintenance Worker or service, contact the Dallas County Conservation Board, Forest Tom Fickbohm………………………...Seasonal Maintenance Worker

Park, 14581 K Avenue, Perry, Iowa, 50220, (515) 465-3577 Tim McColloch………………………..Seasonal Maintenance Worker

Here

Label Address

32 NO. PERMIT

50220 IA PERRY

Perry, IA 50220 IA Perry,

PAID

Avenue K 14581 POSTAGE U.S.

Board Conservation County Dallas

ORG NONPROFIT

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