Paint Creek Valley officially dedicated as part of Yellow River State Forest at May 7 event

by Kelli Boylen
freelance writer

The Iowa Natural Heritage Foundation, Iowa Department of Natural Resources (DNR) and various conservation groups held a dedication ceremony for the Paint Creek Valley near Waterville Thursday, May 7. The 368-acre parcel of land along the south side of White Pine Road in rural Waterville is now officially part of Yellow River State Forest.
At the dedication event, Iowa DNR Director Chuck Gipp said the parcel of land is not only important for conservation  reasons, but that natural resources and public land can have a great impact on recruiting businesses and prospective employees to Iowa. “Public land is critical to economic development,” he said, "especially here in northeast Iowa.”
The Iowa DNR Commissioners approved the purchase of the land from the Iowa Natural Heritage Foundation (INHF) at their September 11, 2014 meeting and ownership was transferred to the Iowa DNR last winter. INHF was excited to help the DNR obtain the large parcel because it connects to 8,500 acres of Yellow River State Forest.
The land was originally owned by Orville and Art Nelson. The Nelson estate was auctioned off in October of 2008 and the INHF tried to purchase the land then. In July of 2012, the successful bidder from that auction approached the Foundation and offered the land for the purchase price he paid.
Since then, INHF has been doing restoration work. The bottom valleys were in the Conservation Reserve Program (CRP) for many years, and then used for cropland the last several years. Some of the land was badly eroded in the flooding of June 2013, and the Foundation worked to restore this damaged land so that it would be eligible for CRP again.
Brian Fankhauser, Blufflands Program Manager of Iowa Natural Heritage Foundation, and others, spoke of the importance of continuing to restore the valley. More than 40 acres of  prairie grasses and forbes  have been planted as a  buffer zone to reduce erosion and to create more wildlife habitat.
INHF is also working with Northeast Iowa Resource Conservation & Development (RC&D) Inc., the DNR and U.S. Forest Service to remove massive amounts of Japanese Knotweed, an invasive species which has taken over the banks of the Paint Creek from Waukon to the Paint Creek Valley in the last decade. The knotweed chokes out smaller plants and grasses which have roots that help to prevent erosion.
Tom Murray, a board member of the Iowa Driftless Chapter of Trout Unlimited, spoke as one of the many anglers who are excited about the public access to Paint Creek. “Trout Unlimited is thrilled when we get 200 yards of stream access, and here we have two miles,” he said. “Anglers literally have their mouths water when we see this stream. Anglers of all ages will be using this.”
Doug Harr, President of Iowa Audubon, also spoke at the dedication, noting the global importance of the valley as a bird habitat. The cerulean warbler, a Neotropical migratory bird, has had a 70 percent decline in numbers in the past 40 years. Many don’t realize that some birds of this species migrate from the South American jungles to the forest lands of Allamakee County. Birders are excited about the warbler being heard in the valley (their coloring makes them very hard to actually see).
"We gave a voice collectively to the voiceless," said Joe McGovern,
President of the INHF, referring to the birds, plants and animals that benefit from having protected habitats.
This parcel of land features an algific talus slope, a cold and moist habitat only found in the Driftless Region (the unglaciated areas of northeast Iowa, southwest Wisconsin and southeastern Minnesota), along with rare plant and bird species and 2.1 miles of prime cold-water trout stream with a naturally reproducing population of Brown Trout.
One of Iowa’s largest algific talus slopes is on the Paint Creek valley property, supporting a large population of Canada Yew and the federally-threatened Northern Monkshood. According to INHF, an algific talus slope (also known as a cold air slope) is a rare, fragile and almost unknown ecosystem. The entire world's supply consists of a few hundred tiny patches in the Driftless Region - and many of those sites are under threat. These slopes' unusual geology keeps them cool on the hottest summer days, so they host many species found nowhere else in Iowa - and, in some cases, nowhere else in the world.
The land purchase was funded by the Iowa DNR, Iowa Natural Heritage Foundation, and numerous birding and trout groups from across Iowa. Funding for this acquisition was through the REAP (Resource Enhancement and Protection) program, which provides for property taxes to be paid by the DNR to the County on this acquisition, according to Kevin Baskins of the Iowa DNR. The DNR paid Allamakee County $47,632 in property taxes in fiscal year 2013.
The entire parcel of land is now open for trout fishing, bird watching, hiking and hunting. At this time there are no developed trails on the land and ATV, UTV and horse riding are not allowed. Those using the public land are reminded to respect the private land on the north side of the road and to not block the roadway when parking in the area.
At this time the land has not been designated with signs, but there are plans underway for that in the future. The new parcel of public land begins at State Forest Road and extends for approximately two miles on the south side only of White Pine Road.