PHOTO BY GARRY BRANDENBURG Green Castle Recreation Area is just one of several public areas that help improve our living in Marshall County. Unique natural areas of all kinds add to the various appeal and pursuits of places for people to go fishing, hiking, family picnics and nature observing. Each fall, other areas offer hunting opportunities. A list of places to seek out for camping, trail use, fishing and boating, Iowa River access boat ramps hunting, and environmental education are just a few moments away at any time of the year. The type of lands that offer these nature escapes add value to our lives. In today’s photograph made last November, Green Castle’s 16 surface acre lake is surrounded by a hilly landscape holding woodlands, reconstructed prairie grasses and numerous shoreline access points for fishing. It is a quiet and relaxing place to visit.

Green Castle Recreation Area got its name in 1977, the year this 116.5 acre land tract became public property. Green Castle happens to be the name of the township it is located within. The name just fits the site and its historical roots. The location is five miles south of Marshalltown, then east three miles to the little City of Ferguson, then one more mile south.

The Marshall County Conservation Board secured funding from both public and private donations to make this site available and then began the long range planning for staged developments. Those elements included the not so glamorous but highly important decisions on where to build access roadways, silt retention structures, parking areas and amenities such as shelter houses, picnic sites, and trail systems.

All of these were just for starters. Over decades, and continuing even now, upgrades have been accomplished, and more future improvements are planned. In the meantime, this quiet spot on the map of Marshall County is a jewel of an area for conservation and outdoor recreation activities.

Today’s image shows the 16-acre lake surface and the surrounding plantings of woodlands/shrubs, reconstructed prairie grasses on a terraced hillside (site for future modern camping developments) and numerous shoreline access points with shoreline protection rock wave breakers. Three shelter houses are available — two are open on a first come, first serve basis.

Another shelter is enclosed and is available for rental. It is named Gander Lookout and has a unique native wood paneling interior. A sand volleyball court was constructed several years ago that is very popular each summer. An eight-acre bison pen holds four American bison animals and usually one calf born each year.

A wildlife pond near the south area of the park has trumpeter swans and local Canada geese. Other wildlife include free ranging white-tailed deer, ring necked pheasants, and of course a host of migrating songbirds each spring and fall. Waterfowl of all species drop in for a rest and feeding time before continuing on their journey.

Extensive improvements to the lake bed were accomplished two decades ago to remove accumulated silt after the lake water was drained to allow for fish management removal of common carp. While that was being accomplished, new fish habitat structures and places along the shoreline were built.

Now these underwater hiding places hold fish, both predator and prey species within easy casting distance of shore. If you want to bring your own canoe or kayak, a launching ramp is available for that purpose. Non-powered watercraft are allowed.

This winter, due to our string of severe cold winter weather, ice conditions on Green Castle Lake grew thick. How thick? Answer: 16 inches. That is above normal for our typical Iowa winter weather. Normal is more like 10 to 12 inches, but in the natural ebb and flow of winter weather, more ice can be expected.

Staff of the conservation board used the thick ice advantage to pull several large cedar trees onto the lake. They stopped over a spot with 20 feet of water depth, then secured 400 pounds of concrete blocks to the trunks of those trees.

When the ice melts next month, those trees will sink butt first and be left “standing upright” in the water column as new fish inhabit the area. Fish species have been restocked with cooperation from the fisheries bureau of the Iowa DNR. They include bluegill, largemouth bass, crappie, channel catfish, red-eared sunfish and walleye.

On May 1, 1981, a large white crappie fish was caught by the late Ted Trowbridge. That fish tipped the scales at four pounds nine ounces and was 21 1/4 inches long. This mounted fish may be seen at the Grimes Farm and Conservation Center. One never knows if fate will meet your fishing lure or baited hook. It is fun to try and great fun to share with friends if good luck should be your fortune.

Marshall County Conservation has a lot on its plate of responsibilities. A wide variety of land habitat types are within a mix of 29 separate tracts, large and small, for a total acreage of 2,292. How did these areas become public? That list is also long and involves many as outright gifts by the landowners who wanted to leave a legacy. Those sellers wanted people to be able to use, enjoy and share with those who held a deep appreciation for nature.

Other sites were purchased when the landowner said the time was right for them, and funding of any project involves using all the tools in the tool box in a mix and match arrangement to enable the best outcome. Grants such as the Habitat Grant program that is partially funded by competitive applications from a limited pool of funds have been utilized, and sometimes that works.

Sometimes, the grant request falls a few notches short, so another attempt is made in subsequent years. In the meantime, estate situations may become available, and a portion of an inheritance is offered to the MCCB for any use as is best for their long list of unmet needs. For details on how to assess an individual situation, feel free to contact Mike Stegmann, director of the MCCB, at 641-752-5490.

Public land facts for you are important benchmarks to help put in proper perspective the diverse land options existing throughout Iowa’s 55,857.13 square miles. Those 55,000-plus square miles add up to a tad less than 35 million acres. There are many types of public lands. A few examples that are all around us all the time are public roadways and the right-of-ways they are located upon, which cover a total of 919,405 acres.

State-owned acres under the jurisdiction of the DNR devoted to state parks, wildlife management areas, public hunting areas, trails and lakes make a total of 390,111 acres, and some of those lands have property taxes paid by the DNR, the only state agency required to do so. In fiscal year 2022, the DNR paid $1,226,514 in property taxes on eligible lands meeting the tax requirement of 81,791 acres.

How much of Iowa is state-owned by DNR for public use? Answer: one percent. Another way to compare those unique lands with varied topographies of hills, cliffs, wetlands and state wildlife area of forests or wetlands and unique scenic areas is to evaluate those acres on a scale using crop suitability ratings (CSR). Soil survey data determines in many cases how likely a tract of land is for its “highest and best use.”

In Iowa, in many cases, that revolves around agriculture for obvious reasons. Iowa grows lots of grain crops because of nature’s blessing of productive soil types. Some are excellent, others slightly less so, and other soil types even less. Public lands for conservation/recreation on average have a CSR of 32, a very low and very risky rating to a farmer who wants to grow crops. Better for the farmer to focus on land acres with CSR’s of high 80s to low 90s than to waste time and finances on losing endeavors.

During fiscal year 2021, those lands that the DNR did acquire had an average price per acre of $2,193. Statewide farm land sales as of November 2021 came out at $9,751 per acre, and it should be no surprise that lands defined to be within the 100 year floodplain, where rivers and streams routinely have high water or flood events, make up 51 percent of state-owned public lands.

Land acres can also be classified as to their erodibility factors — how do they hold soil together naturally, or how do those soils become problems of soil loss during weather events? Well managed soil types can be very good at holding soil particles in place.

Outside of the floodplain, 80 percent of DNR lands on hilly, rocky and steep terrains are considered highly erodible. That is why those types of lands are dedicated to conservation uses, because they are not suited for other conversions.

In all, 22.6 percent of public lands are labeled hydric, meaning very moist to wet to very wet to open water conditions, and 42 percent of DNR lands are forested. Fifteen percent are water with more than 60 sovereign natural glacially developed lakes having over 40,000 acres of surface water.

And if one is to add up and compare Iowa lands to other states natural resource dedicated acres, according to the U.S. Census statistical abstract of the United States, you will find Iowa ranked 47th in the nation for fewest acres for public use. We put a lot of emphasis on quality of life issues. Natural lands of Iowa devoted to conservation/recreation are critically important components of the total mix of how Iowa lives, works and plays. Now you have some additional data as background to help place our varied Iowa landscapes in perspective.