Iowa
Wetlands and
Riparian
Areas
Conservation
Plan
Monitoring and education go
hand-in-hand at donated wetland
(Akron-Westfield Community School, Western
Iowa)
Monitoring and education go hand-in-hand at this 80-acre outdoor classroom forged through a partnership with a local business-owner and the City of Akron. Thanks to the Harold Higman family's gift of 80 acres enrolled in the federal Emergency Wetland Reserve Program (EWRP), Akron-Westfield students are monitoring a parcel of Big Sioux River floodplain as it reverts from cropland to wetland.
On Saturday mornings and after school, high school students gather to monitor changes in water quality, pH, soil temperature, total organic content of the soil, vegetation, and invertebrate population of this former field. The 96-97 school year was the first for this ongoing project. The following years' students are comparing and compiling their data with the previous years' data to study the changes that occur as the wetland recovers.
The Akron-Westfield Community school initially received a Toyota Tapestry grant that supports innovative high school science programs and another grant from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (USEPA) for field and laboratory equipment. With the support of the USEPA grant, this voluntary monitoring project will become an integral part of the science curriculum.
This wetland has other uses besides education. The Higman family gave the site to Akron in 1996 to be transformed into a park. The Akron Park Board, impressed by the school's 30-acre prairie, turned the acreage over to the school to study the wetland's natural revegetation process. Part of the acreage is used as a recreational area. The Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) designed a new levee to protect the city from flooding, and Higman Sand and Gravel, Inc. created it. Akron City Park Board members developed and maintain recreational trails for public use. The Iowa Department of Transportation's recent abandonment of an old bridge approach even added parking for easy access to the trails. Native seed provided by other organizations was planted to slow erosion and add to the aesthetic appeal of this unusual park and classroom. The multi-purpose wetland restoration complements other area conservation efforts such as the NRCS's Big Sioux River Corridor project.
The project also obtained assistance from the Plymouth County Conservation Board, the Iowa Department of Transportation, the Plymouth County Soil and Water Conservation District, Pheasants Forever, and Ducks Unlimited.
- Contact: Ron Wilmot, Akron-Westfield Community Schools
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