Nature Conservancy Receives $35,000 Grant from Loess Hills Alliance

Funds will support land acquisition in the Loess Hills

Des Moines, Iowa—June 21, 2006—The Nature Conservancy recently received a $35,000 grant from the Loess Hills Alliance (LHA) for the acquisition of a 23-acre tract in Plymouth County in the Loess Hills to reduce habitat fragmentation for priority grasslands birds at Iowa’s largest remaining prairie at Broken Kettle Grasslands preserve.

In 2004, The Nature Conservancy in Iowa purchased the tract, an in-holding connected to Broken Kettle by using an internal loan. This tract is located within a high-quality prairie remnant. Rare species such as the regal fritillary butterfly and the prairie rattlesnake have been noted on the property.

The Conservancy is currently raising funds to pay off the internal loan. The initial loan was $267,000 and the balance will be $68,044, after applying this grant.

Restoration on the prairie and ridge top began this spring and included moving a house off of the property.

The Conservancy plans to lease the property to a local livestock producer in the near term. The long-term goal is to re-introduce bison to this tract and the balance of the Broken Kettle Grasslands preserve. The Conservancy and its partners protect 7,300 acres at Broken Kettle Grasslands, located just north of Sioux City in Plymouth County.

The Loess Hills, which rise 200 feet above the Missouri River Valley, snake in a narrow band of wrinkled bluffs that cover some 650,000 acres along the state’s western border. This region supports some of Iowa’s best examples of tallgrass prairie, which originally covered 25 million acres across parts of Iowa and Minnesota. Today, less than one percent remains; making it one of North America’s most endangered ecosystems.

This area of the Loess Hills provides Iowans with a rare example of large intact grasslands providing a glimpse of Iowa’s natural heritage.

Broken Kettle Grasslands (Plymouth North) is one of 12 Special Landscape Areas identified by the National Park Service study in 2000 and has been designated by the Iowa Department of Natural Resources (IDNR) as a Bird Conservation Area. Known for its large intact native prairies and extensive grassland pastures, the region provides habitat for over 25 rare species including the prairie rattlesnake and regal fritillary butterfly as well as grassland birds such as the Henslow’s sparrow and bobolink.

Partners at Broken Kettle Grasslands include the IDNR, Plymouth County Conservation Board, private landowners, local livestock producers, the Natural Resources Conservation Service, the Loess Hills Audubon Society, the Loess Hills Alliance and the Plymouth County Soil and Water Conservation District. The Iowa DNR, the Plymouth CCB, Audubon Society and landowners work with the Conservancy on protection and management of lands within the Broken Kettle area. The NRCS, Loess Hills Alliance and the Plymouth SWCD partner with the Conservancy on farmland protection program easements.

This $35,000 grant will be a counted as a significant gift to the Conservancy’s $9.5 million Campaign for Conservation – Saving the Last Great Places in Iowa. This campaign, announced in June, has raised more than $5.6 million toward its goal of targeting the six most ecologically important and threatened landscapes in Iowa, including the Loess Hills.

The Nature Conservancy is a leading international, nonprofit organization that preserves plants, animals and natural communities representing the diversity of life on Earth by protecting the lands and waters they need to survive. To date, the Conservancy and its more than one million members have been responsible for the protection of more than 15 million acres in the United States and have helped preserve more than 100 million acres in Latin America, the Caribbean, Asia and the Pacific. Visit us on the Web at nature.org.

The Nature Conservancy in Iowa has more than 7,500 members and manages 33 preserves totaling over 6,000 acres. Since the Chapter began in 1963, with the aid of volunteers it has been involved in the protection of nearly 20,000 acres in the state, including native prairies, wetlands and woodland communities.