The Greene County Conservation Board has been working on purchasing public hunting and wildlife preservation land for over two years and on Thursday, they reached their fundraising goal for it to become a reality.
Conservation Director Dan Towers says they received a $230,000 Habitat Stamp Grant through the Iowa Department of Natural Resources to aid them in purchasing 160 acres south of Rippey.
The land is owned by Tom Hanson. It has been in the Hanson family since it was first purchased in the 1930’s. The majority of the land is a timber area along the Raccoon River. Towers notes that Hanson came to him about donating the land to the conservation board for public use.
“We’re very gracious that he did that. He could’ve put it on the market and it would’ve been snapped up in a minute. But he wanted to see it in public ownership, so he came to us.”
For the last two years, Towers has been raising other money for the project. $41,600 came from Mid-American Energy through the Iowa National Heritage Foundation and another $30,000 from the Acklin Fund which was also through the Iowa National Heritage Foundation; $30,000 was from allocated money through the Resource, Enhancement And Protection funds to the Greene County Conservation Board; $10,000 from the National Wild Turkey Federation; and $12,000 from other local groups and individuals. The $230,000 grant is what put them over the top. The total land acquisition cost is $344,000. There will also be additional costs such as land surveys and appraisal fees.
Towers says getting the land was very personal for him.
“In 1981 when I first started with the DNR, its where the original wild turkey stocking took place in Greene County. It’s kind of a sentimental spot to me. I turned loose the ten hens and three gobblers that started the turkey flock that we see descendants of now. People in this field have known it as a quality area for a long time.”
He adds that this is a part of a bigger picture in that there is another 160 acres of Hanson land that could be purchased in the future.
Towers comments that every acre of land that they can make available for public hunting and wildlife preservation will help to rejuvenate the sport in the County.