IOWA—Representatives from multiple conservation agencies and organizations gathered in northeastern Iowa last month to celebrate the protection of a keystone tract of land in the Iowa Department of Natural Resources Heritage Valley Project. The protection was made possible through the USDA Forest Service’s Forest Legacy Program.

Iowa DNR worked closely with the Iowa Natural Heritage Foundation and Forest Service to purchase a conservation easement on 981 acres of foundation property, permanently protecting the land from future development and ensuring it remains perpetually forested. The USDA Natural Resource Conservation Service also holds a permanent conservation easement on the remaining wetland portion of the 1,190-acre property.

“This property is located in the most forested county in Iowa and in a region where some of the most valuable walnut trees in the world are grown,” said Aron Flickinger, forestry program specialist with the Iowa DNR. “Keeping this highly productive forest from future development and requiring that management practices are guided by a DNR-approved forest stewardship plan ensures the sustainable production of valuable wood products from this property, which helps to support Iowa’s $200 million sawmill industry.”

Beyond being an important resource for sustainable timber management, the Heritage Valley project area is an alluring destination for outdoor recreationists and wildlife enthusiasts. A three-mile section of the Upper Iowa River meanders through the property, treating paddlers and anglers to winding valleys and majestic limestone bluffs that characterize the area’s Driftless Region. More than a decade of ecological restoration work by the foundation has returned native prairie and oak savanna communities to portions of the upland plateaus.

After remarks from the project partners, event attendees took in an impressive panoramic view of the landscape from two of the overlooks on the property. From these vantage points, attendees observed the extent of the high-quality oak-hickory stands that blanket the tract, supporting a diversity of wildlife species and contribute to the local timber industry. The conservation easement requires the forest resources on the property be sustainably managed under an approved forest stewardship plan. This ensures all management activities help promote the ecological integrity of the landscape while balancing multiple beneficial uses of the property.

“This Heritage Valley Project tract will remain forested forever because of the Forest Legacy Program and the dedicated efforts of our conservation partners,” said Neal Bungard, Eastern Region Community Forest and Open Space program manager with the Forest Service. “Not only is the land now protected from conversion to non-forest uses, but it will be managed according to a DNR-approved multi-resource management plan, which will ensure that any activity on the property is conducted to promote a healthy forest and to balance different uses including timber production, wildlife habitat, recreation, and water quality.”

The heritage foundation property, which is part of a multi-tract project funded in 2019 through a nationally competitive process, is the largest property in Iowa protected to date through the Forest Legacy Program. Its permanent protection represents the culmination of decades of collaborative work by a variety of committed public and private partner organizations. While Iowa DNR now holds a conservation easement that will safeguard the natural resource values in perpetuity, the property will remain under foundation ownership, allowing its careful stewardship of the property to continue for the benefit of the Upper Iowa River and the surrounding region.

“INHF is grateful to work with the Forest Service and the Iowa DNR to ensure the permanent protection of this special place,” said Brian Fankhauser, foundation senior land stewardship and Blufflands director. “INHF takes pride in our responsibility to be good stewards of the land at Heritage Valley. Partnerships like this make that stewardship even stronger."

In addition to the 981-acre conservation easement on the foundation’s tract, Iowa DNR recently acquired a similar conservation easement on a 48-acre property nearby as part of the Heritage Valley Forest Legacy Project and expects to complete at least four additional conservation easements through the current federal Forest Legacy Program grant, which would result in the permanent protection of more than 1,600 total acres through the program.

In 2019, Congress passed the Great American Outdoors Act, which provides annual appropriation to the Land and Water Conservation Fund. The Forest Legacy Program uses these funds to permanently conserve state and privately owned forestlands.