T-R PHOTO BY NOAH ROHLFING Tree damage by the parking lot of Grimes Farm and Conservation Center.

Marshall County’s public parks have a long road to recovery after suffering “extensive” damage last week, Marshall County Conservation Board Director Mike Stegmann said Tuesday.

A week after the powerful derecho ripped through Iowa, most of the county’s parks are still closed to the public due to tree damage. Stegmann said there was not much in the way of structural damage for park playgrounds and other structures but tree damage was another story.

“Tree damage was massive,” he said. “Every area we cover got hammered with tree damage.”

Grimes Farm, the Linn Creek Trail from Grimes Farm to Campbell and the parking lot of Drive Trail Head are the only MCCB park areas open to the public as of Tuesday. For many of the other parks in the county, it could be a long wait before they are safe for recreation.

Stegmann said it is frustrating because the extent of the damage means the group will have to essentially go to every park for the tree removal and cleanup process. He asked area residents to steer clear of damaged areas and to stay away from barricades and caution tape.

“We’re cleaning up those areas park-by-park,” Stegmann said. “We will open parks as they get clear, but not all at once. In some wildlife areas in the county we will let Mother Nature take its course, the tree damage is so extensive.”

Stegmann said the board is not fully done with the final assessment of the damage because there is so much to get through. The initial assessment took one or two days.

There is no real timeframe for when the damage can be fully cleared, he said. It is so significant he predicted this would be their number one focus for the rest of the year.

“We’re gonna be cutting down trees for a long time,” Stegmann said. “We’ve had wind storms in the past that have caused damage to parks in north or south Marshall County before. This time everywhere got hit.”

The Grimes Farm, where the MCCB is based, was a focus of the first week of cleanup, and Stegmann said it was not easy. He said it took four to five days to get it cleaned up — and some areas had to be cleaned at “a snail’s pace.”

It is an indication of the ups and downs the MCCB will experience in its efforts to get through parks across Marshall County.

With the recent disaster declaration by Gov. Kim Reynolds, the MCCB is hoping they will be in line for FEMA reimbursement for what they’ll have to put into the recovery process.

However, Stegmann was very complimentary of his staff and how they have handled the long days and the long road ahead of them.

“Our entire staff has been working in the field and the effort has been tremendous,” Stegmann said. “I couldn’t ask for a better group.”

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Contact Noah Rohlfing at 641-753-6611 or nrohlfing@timesrepublican.com.