(Okoboji)– Representatives of the Iowa Natural Heritage Foundation provided updates on a number of projects they’re involved with in the Iowa Great Lakes during a presentation Thursday put on by the Dickinson County Conservation Board. Brian Fankhauser, Senior Land Stewardship and Bluff Lands Director, says the list has grown in recent years…
“It’s literally dozens of projects. A lot of those properties that we help acquire, they’re now in public ownership with the Iowa DNR, some with the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Center, some with Dickinson County Conservation Board, but we do have a growing number of properties that we’re going to continue to own and steward in the lakes area.”
Updates were given on the Green Pastures project near Okoboji View Golf Course on the west side of West Lake Okoboji, along with a wetland restoration project at the West Okoboji Wildlife Management area near Sandpiper Cove and the Little Sioux Savanna Addition on the Little Sioux River west of Milford. Other than efforts to acquire the land on the east side of Arnolds Park that we mentioned earlier, Fankhauser says as of now, at least, there’s nothing additional on the Iowa Natural Heritage Foundation’s radar for the Iowa Great Lakes…
“As of right now there’s nothing new that I know of but that can literally change tomorrow with a phone call. There’s just a lot of enthusiasm up here in the lakes area and we’re receiving more calls all the time where people are wanting to protect land and see it stay natural, so.”
An update was also given Thursday on the ongoing restorations at The Narrows Preserve on East Lake Okoboji. We’ll have more on that next week.
