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Project AreasThe Needs and Results of the Campaign for ConservationThe Loess Hills: the prairie rattlesnake and grassland birds Home to Iowa’s largest remaining native prairies, rare prairie rattlesnakes and grassland birds such as the bobolink, the Loess Hills also contain the Conservancy’s Broken Kettle Grasslands Preserve with the largest contiguous prairie in the state. Since the launch of the Campaign, the Conservancy and its partners have conserved 11,000 acres (in addition to the 17,000 acres prior to the campaign launch for a total of 28,000 acres) of this important habitat. From a science perspective, the campaign has supported butterfly, bird and prairie rattlesnake research at Broken Kettle. There have also been recent herpetological and butterfly inventories. The long-term conservation goal is much more ambitious. With the help of partners and many local landowners, the Conservancy hopes to preserve 100,000 acres within the Loess Hills to maintain healthy natural systems within a productive, working agricultural landscape. Little Sioux Valley: the Dakota skipper The last documented sighting of the Dakota skipper, an elusive butterfly took place more than 10 years ago at Cayler Prairie in the Little Sioux Valley. With the Iowa DNR, the Conservancy is working to conserve, restore, expand and connect 20,000 acres of prairie throughout the Little Sioux Valley. Will the Dakota skipper be re-discovered and threatened plants like the prairie bush clover and eastern prairie fringed orchid thrive again? The Conservancy is working to set the stage. As a result of this campaign, land acquisition has increased by more than 600 acres, a small but significant amount in a relatively small project area. Butterfly and fish inventories have been completed on two preserves. Driftless Area: the Iowa Pleistocene snail In the Driftless area of northeast Iowa, a snail once-thought extinct was rediscovered in the 1980s. The Conservancy and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service have worked to protect 22 of the 37 algific talus slopes that the Iowa Pleistocene snail calls home. This ice-age snail has already gone from extinct to federally endangered. The snail could be removed from the endangered species list by simply conserving its unique habitat. As a result of this campaign, the Conservancy purchased land to buffer a USFWS slope property and recently transferred it to the Iowa Department of Natural Resources. In addition, more than 180 landowners with slopes and sinkholes on their property have agreed to allow the Conservancy to assess and map conditions of the karst area with its many slopes, sinkholes and limestone outcroppings. Meanwhile, Iowa State University conducted a population study of discus snails and extensive mapping of algific talus slopes and conditions have been verified. In early 2008, the Conservancy will complete a karst/streams Conservation Action Plan to keep the project moving forward. Upper Mississippi River – Boone River The Mississippi River valley is a vital migration corridor for 40 percent of North America’s waterfowl and 60 percent of its bird species. Freshwater habitats in the Upper Mississippi River basin support 25 percent of all fish species in North America. Campaign funding from DuPont and Pioneer supports the Conservancy’s work on the Boone River with partner organizations, such as the Prairie Rivers Resource Conservation and Development and the Iowa Soybean Association as well as local producers and residents, to establish science-based monitoring with an eye to developing sustainable farming practices with supportive financial incentives to help preserve and protect the Boone River. With a conservation action plan recently completed, the Conservancy has worked with Iowa State University’s Center for Agriculture and Rural Development to initiate a watershed modeling effort and species surveys, including a comprehensive freshwater mussel survey. The goal is to conserve native freshwater biodiversity in ways that are scientifically and economically sound and of benefit to the agricultural community. Lower Cedar In the Lower Cedar Valley, sandy soils provide habitat for more than 300 plant species and 19 types of reptiles and amphibians, including rare massasauga rattlesnakes and ornate box turtles. To determine the best approach to conservation and restoration, the campaign recently has funded plant and animal inventories. Lowland oak savanna research was completed by Iowa State University and groundwater hydrology research is being conducted by Grinnell College. Conservancy biologists used campaign funding to begin water quality monitoring of Pike Run, which provided data to the Iowa DNR for determining its classification as an “impaired stream.” Combining these studies with the work of our partners, the Conservancy will be able to complete a Lower Cedar Conservation Action Plan by June 2008. Already, the herpetological inventory has persuaded the Iowa DNR to declare this area the first ever Reptile and Amphibian Conservation Area, which is good news for the massasauga rattlesnake and other fauna in the region. Grand River Grasslands Known as the prairie chicken’s last stand in Iowa, the Conservancy’s Grand River Grasslands actually offers an opportunity for this prairie species to thrive – and anecdotal evidence points to a rising population of the greater prairie chicken in this area that hugs the Missouri-Iowa central border. Recently, scientists have completed a plant inventory and mapped prairie remnants in this 70,000-acre project area, which will guide the Conservancy’s protection and conservation. Patch burn grazing projects are being conducted with Iowa State University and Iowa Department of Natural Resources that will help scientists fine tune fire and grazing management by harnessing these historical ecological forces to benefit native prairie. As a result of the campaign, more than 313 acres were purchased to expand the project and have been converted to the Iowa DNR. |
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