The entrance to Columbia Wildlife Area located southeast of Tama on 370th Street in southern Tama County pictured on March 3, 2022. The county-managed property was a topic of discussion during a recent county conservation board meeting. Levi Smith who lives near Columbia Wildlife Area and hunts both deer and turkey on the property, told the Telegraph on March 3 he believes the derecho-downed trees only improved the woodland habitat as it relates to wildlife but agreed some native plantings could be beneficial. –Photo by Soren M. Peterson

A new naturalist intern position, an update on the construction at Otter Creek, and conditions at Columbia Wildlife Refuge were a few of the topics addressed at the most recent meeting of the Tama County Conservation Board on March 3.

Board members present at the regular March meeting which took place in the temporarily closed-to-the-public Otter Creek Lake & Park Nature Center included Carolyn Adolphs of Traer, Allan Atchison of Toledo, Bryan Wacha of Tama, and Nathan Wrage of Gladbrook. Board member John Keenan was absent.

Lake restoration update

Under old business, Conservation Director Stephen Mayne updated the board on the lake restoration project which was slated to begin the second week of January on the 70 acre lake that is part of the Otter Creek Lake & Park grounds. The entire facility was closed to the general public on October 1, 2021, due to safety concerns surrounding the project.

Construction has been delayed, Mayne said, due to a backlog in the archeological survey process – a survey which must be completed by the Office of the State Archeologist before construction can begin.

The woods at the 160 acre, Tama County-managed Columbia Wildlife Area pictured on March 3, 2022. –Photo by Soren M. Peterson

Further complicating matters is a tree harvest component of the project, Mayne shared, a harvest which cannot take place until the archaeological survey is complete.

Trees which must be cut as part of the lake restoration project can only be taken down between October 15 and March 31 due to the migration patterns of the federally endangered bat species Indiana bat which is present in Iowa from April through October.

“We’re just waiting at this point,” Mayne said. Board member Wrage asked Mayne if he could contact the Iowa DNR (Department of Natural Resources) about fast tracking the Otter Creek archeological survey due to the tree harvest window closing later this month. Mayne indicated he would inquire about the possibility with the Iowa DNR.

Park Officer hiring update

Mayne shared with the board he had conducted interviews on February 9 for the full time Park Officer position. Four applications were received but three candidates withdrew after securing jobs elsewhere.

The job has been reposted for another 30 days: https://www.mycountyparks.com/Jobs/440D46CC-508A-47C4-ABF5-BF7E1059A3FB/Park-Officer.aspx

Mayne told the board after speaking with other area conservation directors, Tama County is hardly alone in receiving few applications for county conservation positions.

“It’s the times that we’re in right now,” Mayne said.

Seasonal interns, Columbia Wildlife Area maintenance

During Wednesday’s meeting, Mayne and Tama County Naturalist/Park Ranger Brendan Kelly presented to the board for consideration a revised job application for three Park Ranger Intern positions and a new job application for one Naturalist Intern position.

In previous years, Tama County Conservation has hired two seasonal conservation aides and two seasonal park rangers. After working with Kelly, Mayne combined the two positions into the park ranger intern position to better address the county’s conservation needs.

Both the park ranger and the naturalist positions would still be seasonal, full time positions with an education requirement that applicants be attending or planning to attend college in the conservation/natural resources field.

The job description for the naturalist intern position includes assisting the naturalist with organizing, developing, and coordinating quality environmental educational programs, while also assisting with the development and promotion of county conservation through its website and social media pages.

The reworked park ranger intern position would allow those individuals to not only assist with the maintenance side of county park management but also the public relations side, Mayne said.

Discussion ensued among the board members as to the necessity for the naturalist intern position with board member Wrage specifically questioning the need this summer in light of Otter Creek facilities being closed to the public.

Both Mayne and Kelly responded by listing off a sundry of tasks the naturalist intern could undertake beyond public programming such as restarting the conservation newsletter, creating new brochures, enhancing social media sites, promoting countywide summer camps and programs, preparing for the annual fall festival and fundraiser, and assisting with the creation of trail and facility maps.

“We’d really like someone to help with the creation of those materials and that stuff takes time,” Mayne said.

Wrage brought up the 160 acre county-managed Columbia Wildlife Area located in Columbia Township that was purchased in 1986 with funding assistance from the Wildlife Habitat Stamp Fund. Wrage said it was an underutilized resource that had not been prioritized by the county.

“We’ve talked about Columbia Wildlife for years now and nothing gets done down there,” Wrage said. “If we did some work down there, we could draw more people down there to utilize it better. I’m just questioning the immediate need … for summer of 2022 for this naturalist intern when our facilities are going to be closed to the public.”

Columbia is managed first for wildlife, according to the county’s website for the property, and managed second for human recreational activities including hunting, hiking, mushroom harvest, and nature observation.

Mayne, board member Wacha, and Kelly agreed the property needed maintenance but also pointed out the naturalist intern could conceivably spend time helping to maintain county park facilities as well.

“But again we can’t access [Columbia] very well right now because … we haven’t prioritized that,” Wrage said. “It needs some maintenance, it needs some upkeep, it needs a lot of brush clearing and I mean that’s hot and sweaty work … we’re not camping out here [Otter Creek] this year. So that’s something I’d like to see prioritized.”

In response, Mayne further pointed out that historically county conservation has only been given two seasonal maintenance staff and would be getting three this year with the new park ranger intern position.

Following discussion, a motion was made by board member Adolphs to approve the new naturalist intern position but it failed to garner a second and was subsequently tabled.

A second motion was then made and passed unanimously to approve the seasonal park ranger intern position.

Mayne indicated in an exchange with the Telegraph following the meeting that the naturalist intern position would be revisited at the next Tama County Conservation Board meeting set for Wednesday, April 6, beginning at 6:30 p.m. at the Otter Creek Lake & Park Nature Center.