Pheasants Forever Helps Add 400 Acres to Iowa’s Clanton Creek Natural Resource Area
Pheasants Forever 01.04.12
Pheasants Forever and partners have helped acquire 400 acres of wildlife habitat that will be added to the 715-acre Clanton Creek Natural Resource Area in south-central Iowa’s Madison County. The addition creates 1,115 contiguous acres of protected habitat that is open to public hunting and outdoor recreation.
This addition project initiated last year when Iowans Ken and Sharon Sawyer expressed an interest in permanently protecting the quality prairie and woodland habitat they had established during the previous two decades. The Sawyers wanted future generations of outdoor enthusiasts to enjoy the environment, wildlife and outdoor adventure it would provide. With the help of three Pheasants Forever chapters – the local Covered Bridge PF chapter, Warren County PF chapter and the Iowa Capital PF chapter – the Iowa PF State Council, the Madison County Conservation Board, the willing sellers and a grant from the Iowa Wildlife Habitat Stamp Cost-Share program (from the fee that all hunters pay when they purchase a hunting license in Iowa), the “Sawyer Management Unit” of the Clanton Creek Natural Resource Area is now protected and open for public access.
“First, hats off to the Sawyers, as these conservationists worked hard over 20 years to transform a highly-erodible farm into a premiere wildlife habitat area,” said Jared Wiklund, Pheasants Forever’s Regional Representative in central Iowa, “Their commitment to wildlife habitat conservation has created a lasting legacy. And second, thanks to the immense partnership that ultimately made this significant conservation investment happen.”
This project would not have been possible without the important partnerships of numerous organizations that contributed more than half a million dollars. Additional partner contributions came from Chad Graeve, Chad Graeve Challenge Fund Project, Iowa Natural Heritage Foundation, Madison County Board of Supervisors, Madison County Foundation for Environmental Education, National Wild Turkey Federation, North American Wetland Conservation Act, and the Theodore R. Fariss Estate.
The Clanton Creek Natural Resource Area is located approximately three miles southwest of East Peru, Iowa. A parking area has been established at the south end of the Sawyer Management Unit in Section 28 of Walnut Township along the 3200 block of Clanton Creek Road. Area and roadside directional signage will be posted later in the spring of 2012.
Pheasants Forever launched Quail Forever in August of 2005 to address the continuing loss of habitat suitable for quail and the subsequent quail population decline. Bobwhite population losses over the last 25 years range from 60 to 90 percent across the country. The reason for the quail population plunge is simple - massive losses of habitat suitable for quail. There are five major factors leading to the losses of quail habitat; intensified farming and forestry practices, succession of grassland ecosystems to forests, overwhelming presence of exotic grasses like fescue that choke out wildlife, and urban sprawl.
