Visitors can see the seedlings throughout the park. Thankfully, with help from private donors, the Iowa DNR has been able to plant new pine trees. Many of the 250-year old giant pine trees for which the park was named were lost in a 2009 hailstorm. These habitats allow for native plants and animals including white pines and rare ferns to thrive in the park. You can experience all of these habitats on the trails running through the park or by way of the Iowa River as this park is part of the Iowa River Greenbelt region. Established in 1929, it features a mix of landscapes including woodland, wetlands, lakes, river and remnant prairie.
Located along the Iowa River, Pine Lake State Park is among Iowa’s earliest state parks. Here’s a look at a few of the state parks, state recreation areas and state forests INHF has helped protect or expand in the last 40 years: INHF’s work has evolved considerably in the past four decades, but this work remains an integral part of our mission to this day. Many of these lands are now part of the Iowa State Parks and Iowa’s County Conservation systems. INHF quickly began working with private landowners across Iowa who wanted to sell or donate their land for conservation, and the DNR and CCBs to identify, purchase and hold special places until the state and counties could secure funding. It was heartbreaking to watch prairies, woodlands, river corridors, wetlands and wildlife - especially those adjacent to existing public lands - go unprotected. Iowa Natural Heritage Foundation (INHF) was founded in 1979 in part because important natural lands were being offered for sale and the Iowa Department of Natural Resources (DNR) and county conservation boards (CCB) who protect public lands across the state could not act quickly enough to purchase and protect them. In the years since, 72 state parks and recreation areas, ten state forests, 95 state preserves and 492 wildlife management areas have been established across Iowa though in a state with less than 2% of publicly accessible land, their creation has rarely come easily. Dedicated in 1920, it was Iowa’s first state park, established just three years after the Iowa Legislature passed an act to create Iowa’s state parks system. State Geologist Samuel Calvin wrote these words more than a hundred years ago about the “backbone,” a steep, narrow ridge of bedrock that rises above the river that carved it, at Backbone State Park along the Maquoketa River in eastern Iowa. Erosion and secular decay have carved the rocks into picturesque columns, towers, castles, battlements and flying buttresses.” “Its sides are in places precipitous, the rock cliffs rising sheer for more than 80 feet. Trails, roads, lake and river access points, boat ramps, shorelines, and open spaces remain open to the public. INHF & State Parks: 40 Years of Partnershipsīy Katy Heggen & Daria Mather on Apin BlogĮditor's note: Campground facilities, cabins, restrooms, playgrounds and other facilities are closed in Iowa state parks through at least May 14.
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