Park Service eyes unusual Iowa preservation plan

PISGAH, Iowa-The enormous glaciers that once slithered across North America left their mark in a special way in western Iowa. Throughout a 1,000-square-mile portion of the state, glaciers pummeled soil into silt-sized particles-known as loess-that were subsequently carried by wind currents and deposited in 200-foot-high drifts along the eastern bank of the Missouri River.

Such hills of loess (which rhymes with "bus") exist nowhere else on earth except one region in China. The presence of unusual prairie ecosystems and the passage of explorers Lewis and Clark through them in the early 1800s adds a further layer of mystique to the hills.

But multiple threats are clouding the future of the area, known as the Loess Hills. Trees-which in most other locales are considered beneficial-are taking over what once was prairie land and changing its essential character. Moreover, the mining of loess soil for construction fill is scarring the landscape and encouraging erosion. This, in turn, has promoted flooding and mudslides in such urban areas as Council Bluffs and Sioux City, Iowa, where critics say housing developments should never have been built in the first place, given the looseness of the soil.

Several state and local preservation efforts have already been undertaken to stem the environmental damage, including the state's designation of a scenic byway, the assembly of a 9,000-acre state forest, and an effort to convince companies that are undertaking major construction projects not to buy Loess Hills fill soil.

Now, some activists want to go further, advocating preservation of the hills through an innovative partnership with the National Park Service.

Already, the Park Service plays a limited role in the hills through its Rivers, Trails and Conservation Assistance Program, under which the agency offers technical assistance to state and local officials and non-profit groups on such matters as trail development. Also, two small areas in the hills have been designated as National Natural Landmarks, a program managed by the Park Service.

But Des Moines Register editorial board member Bill Leonard, the author of several dozen unsigned editorials urging preservation of the Loess Hills, advocates of expanding the Park Service's involvement in the area. Leonard notes that Iowa ranks 48th in National Park Service acreage and is located about as far as you can get from a full-blown National Park.

"This is something worthy-it screams for protection," he said in an interview. "But I suspect the state doesn't have the resources or the willingness to spend the necessary money to provide the protection. That's why we need federal cooperation here."

However, Leonard's early focus on creating a role for the Park Service worried many local preservation advocates, who were already working on a different kind of strategy to preserve the Hills. Members of the Loess Hills Alliance-a state-chartered umbrella organization that includes conservationists, local officials and business leaders-say that if the National Park Service is to play a role in a Loess Hills conservation plan, it should be a non-traditional one.

Local officials insist that the traditional national park model-used from Mount Rainier to the Everglades-will not work in Iowa. Many local landowners, for instance, have no desire to sell their lands to a government entity. Moreover, local officials are worried that a major land sell-off could wreck the tax base of a school system that already strains to meet its needs from its limited property-tax base.

"When we were forming the alliance, there were three things we thought were very important," said Thomas C. Bruegger, a Loess Hills Alliance board member and director of the conservation board in Monona County, Iowa. "One was that we have local control, and not have it run by Des Moines or the federal government. Second, we wanted a conservation plan that was totally voluntary, where we were not forcing landowners to do anything. And third, we wanted to take as few acres off the tax rolls as possible."

There is also little enthusiasm locally for the kind of heavy-duty tourism attracted by other national parks. "When you think of national parks, you think of paved roads and Winnebagos, parking lots and asphalt, and large staffs of rangers," said Terry Oswald, a board member of the Loess Hills Preservation Society. "But conservation means the wise use of natural resources. Having a park could destroy the hills."

Interior Secretary Bruce Babbitt has met with local Loess Hills advocates, and last fall-prodded by assistant secretary for water and science Patricia J. Beneke, a native Iowan-he visited the hills himself. Now the House is considering whether to follow the Senate in authorizing a $275,000 Park Service study of possible strategies for preserving the hills.

"The Park Service will help us look at various options," said Shirley Frederiksen, coordinator of Golden Hills Resource Conservation and Development Inc. and a member of the alliance. "We invited them in, so we're not viewing them as the enemy. We want them to partner with us and help us-but with local control."

Sandra Washington, the Omaha-based chief of planning and compliance in the Park Service's Midwest Region, said that if the legislation is passed, the Park Service will address three main questions: Is the area nationally significant? Is it suitable as a unit of the National Park Service? And is it feasible-not just financially but also geographically?

Park Service officials say they don't mind taking a back seat. "The way the alliance is approaching it is a sound one for an area where a large federal presence isn't desired," Washington said. "I think it will have to have some mix of ownership-primarily private-with those private owners being given the stewardship tools to manage the land while still using the property in economically viable ways for themselves and their families."

In recent years, Washington said, several other Park Service units have been created with the expectation that the federal government will own only a small portion of the land. These include the Ice Age National Scenic Trail in the upper midwest, the Niobrara Scenic River in northwestern Nebraska, Ebey's Landing on Whidbey Island in Washington state, and the Nicodemus National Historic Site in Kansas. In each case, the Park Service takes some role, such as offering historical interpretation for visitors or providing technical assistance for local conservationists. But in those locations, most of the land remains in private hands.

"These are exciting parks," Washington said. "They force us to look outside our box and be more creative." She added, "I know we've got our work cut out for us. We have to let people know we have no intention of making this a land-grab or a large federal presence."