 New
Acquisition Brings Exciting Opportunities!
By Harry L. Graves - Executive Director
On January 16, 2002, an eight-month-long effort
by the JCCB to acquire the 42-acre former Elmer
& Elsie Tomash farm culminated with the purchase
of the property from the Iowa Natural Heritage Foundation
(INHF). This property is contiguous to and is a
natural extension of Kent Park. Its acquisition
squares up the park boundaries to Echo Avenue on
the west. The chance to make this addition to Kent
Park was a once in a lifetime opportunity.
When the Board became aware of the fact that this
land was for sale they realized that they would,
in all likelihood, never have another opportunity
to acquire the critically needed buffer between
the park and Echo Avenue. If the Board was unsuccessful
in their efforts to buy the property, it would most
certainly be acquired for rural residences. If that
happened, the Conservation Department's ability
to effectively manage Kent Park would be seriously
compromised. The onus was on the Board to secure
this pivotal property. The JCCB requested and received
the assistance of the INHF who made the purchase
at public auction last August. The opportunity to
acquire the property presented even greater opportunities
for the restoration of this new addition to one
of Iowa's premier parks. The JCCB staff is very
excited about the management plans now being developed.
At the time of acquisition, there was a house and
two garages on the site. The house and one garage
were sold and have now been removed. The newer of
the two garages was retained for storage and use
as a seed house. Approximately two acres of the
former homestead site will be planted to alternate
rows of conifers and hardwoods. This cultural method
provides almost instant wildlife habitat in the
form of the coniferous trees. The faster growing
conifers also act as trainers to force the hardwoods
to grow up straight and tall. In approximately thirty
years, the hardwoods will shade out the conifers
and a beautiful mixed hardwood forest will result.
(See the map on page 2.) The northern half of the
homestead will be utilized as a forest nursery and
a prairie plant nursery.
Currently, 39 acres are in row-crop. These crop
fields will be rented out for corn and soybean production
for several years. During that interim, seed will
be harvested from native prairie grasses and forbs
from sites at Kent Park. The seed will be used to
progressively restore the fields to native vegetation
over a two to three year period. Income from the
rental of the cropland will inure to the Conservation
Trust Account and can be used to purchase additional
species of seed not harvested from the Kent Park
sites. An additional 40-acre tract within Kent Park,
which is contiguous to the 39 acres, will be rented
as farmland for a short time in order to restore
it to prairie. On that site, Roundup Ready®
Soybeans have been planted as a means to kill out
the brome grass that is presently growing there.
Brome grass provides very marginal wildlife habitat
and frequent mowing or spraying is necessary to
keep out weeds and other invasive plants. However,
the prairie plant community, which is composed of
plants that are native to this region, will provide
excellent wildlife habitat. This diverse prairie
plant community out-competes weeds and brush because
of its vigorous growth habit.
There is great wetland development potential in
the natural watercourses of the cropfields. The
Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) will
be assisting in the development of a wetland design
this summer.
The ultimate management goal is to take this Highly
Erodible Land (HEL) out of row crop production as
expeditiously as possible and restore it to native
prairie. This will help improve the water quality
of Clear Creek and ultimately of the Iowa River.
Wildlife habitat, in general, will be greatly enhanced
by the reconstruction of prairie and wetlands. In
addition, an Ornate Box turtle (Terrapene ornata)
population, a state threatened species and Iowa's
only terrestrial turtle, is found in Kent Park and
vicinity. The restored prairie will provide suitable
summer habitat, which should contribute significantly
to the maintenance of the naturally occurring box
turtle population at Kent Park. The restored prairie
will give visitors a microcosmic view of what 80%
of the state of Iowa looked like at the time of
settlement. It will provide a blaze of color and
a veritable visual feast of blooming plants from
early spring to hard frost. Watch as the natural
beauty returns to this newest addition for all who
come to enjoy this spectacular place - Kent Park!
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