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Conservation

Help the Iowa DNR count turkeys

The Iowa Department of Natural Resources (DNR) is looking for help with its annual wild turkey production survey. During the months of July and August, wild turkey sightings are recorded to estimate this year’s nesting rates and nest success. Participation is easy – just note the date ...

Otter Creek Lake & Park reopens June 29

TOLEDO – Following lake improvements, visitors will once again be able to hike and camp at Otter Creek Lake & Park starting on Thursday, June 29. Upon reopening, all park trails, roads, restrooms, and shelters will be available for public use. Campsites will be available on a ...

Pollinators: Tama County Women, Land & Legacy to host upcoming event

Join Tama County Women, Land & Legacy for its upcoming event, “Summer Buzz: Farmstead Pollinator Tour.” It will be held on Wednesday, June 28 at the Jan and Rob Wobeter farmstead, 2551 300th Street in rural Toledo, one mile south of Highway E-43 (Duponda blacktop) at the intersection ...

Irvine Prairie expansion dedicated north of Dysart

RURAL DYSART - Last Friday afternoon on local conservationist Cathy Irvine’s farm located roughly five miles north of Dysart as the crow flies, a special ceremony took place in a meadow tucked between a grove of nut trees and a former soybean field. Some 60 people had gathered to officially ...

Tama Co. Conservation to begin phasing in new logo

TOLEDO — The Tama Co. Board of Conservation voted last Wednesday night to begin phasing in a new logo featuring a black and white graphic of a trumpeter swan – a native species once absent from Iowa altogether but thanks to restoration efforts including at Otter Creek Marsh near Chelsea, ...

Tama Co. Conservation Summer Events Calendar

All events are free unless otherwise noted. Questions? Call Tama Co. Naturalist Raina Genaw at 641-484-2231 or email rgenaw@tamacounty.org. Friday, July 7: Bug Catching from noon to 2 p.m. at T.F. Clark Park. Catch some bugs and learn about them with a naturalist! Bug nets, containers, ...

Union students help increase plant diversity at Irvine Prairie

Almost 80 students from Union High School joined forces with staff of the Tallgrass Prairie Center, AmeriCorps service members, and UNI students on May 25 to transplant more than 2,300 native plants at Irvine Prairie located in rural Dysart. Under the direction of TPC staff and Union science ...

Torres wins Tama SWCD 2023 Stewardship Week poster contest

DYSART - Dysart-Geneseo Elementary fourth-grader Gage Torres was recently announced as the D-G winner of the Tama Soil and Water Conservation District’s annual Stewardship Week poster contest which celebrated the theme ‘One Water.’ Torres was awarded a $10 prize. His poster is ...

Camping update, new naturalist top agenda at Conservation meeting

TOLEDO – As the lake restoration project nears its final stages at Otter Creek Lake and Park, amenities including the campgrounds, playground, and parking are undergoing updates of their own, according to Conservation Director Stephen Mayne. During the monthly meeting of the Tama Co. ...

Irvine Prairie lights up the sky

A controlled burn was conducted by members of UNI’s Tallgrass Prairie Center (TPC) last week Tuesday on a roughly 20 acre tract of the Irvine Prairie as part of ongoing restorative work at the rural Dysart prairie-in-progress. After having to reschedule a couple of times due to poor ...