The Iowa Department of Natural Resources seeks to host an open house annually on the quality of their state parks, and Springbrook State Park’s event had a greater turnout than usual.

DNR District Supervisor Michelle Reinig credits the change of locale from the park to the Mary J. Barnett Memorial Library for the success of the open house, which was held September 9th in Guthrie Center. Around 30-40 people came to voice their opinions to local and other DNR staff on Springbrook’s program offerings, trail and amenity projects, and ways the park could improve in the future. Reinig comments on the reception, “Overall, I think we got some good comments and people for the most part just commented that they really enjoy the programming that happens within the park.”

Reinig adds, the Iowa DNR hosts these open houses at all the state parks, “And basically the idea behind these open houses or public meetings is just to educate and inform people of the happenings in the park and to get the local people involved. And I think some of the big misconceptions are maybe people don’t have an understanding of how we operate and so that’s what we’re trying to do.”

As Iowa reaches the 100th anniversary of its state park system next year, Reinig mentions there will be big plans for the celebration. The DNR staff will also take the public’s feedback into consideration as they update their continuous five-year plan for facility improvements at Springbrook.