General Information
Thank you for the Brooks Golf public input
The Dickinson County Conservation Board would like to say a huge THANK YOU to all who attended the public meeting regarding Brooks Golf on Wednesday and to those who have submitted written comments. No decision will be made regarding the future of the 230 acres until at least the conservation board’s July meeting. We will Read More »
Read MoreFree compost and mulch at the Dickinson Recycling Center
Everyone loves superfoods, and compost is like a superfood for your garden. Food scraps and yard waste together make up about 30 percent of what we throw away, according to the Environmental Protection Agency, and instead they can be composted. Composting leaves and grass clippings is exactly what the Dickinson Recycling Center in Milford does. Read More »
Read MoreRobin migration: When it starts and why you might see robins during the winter
Each year, since I was a little kid, my mom and I take guesses about when we will see the first robins of the year. Now that I live in northwest Iowa and she lives in eastern Iowa, she usually sees them first, so I usually guess earlier than I would expect to see them Read More »
Read MoreFive differences between coyotes and wolves
I still remember the first time I heard a coyote pack howl as dusk began to settle on the Iowa Great Lakes area. On a walk at Kettleson Hogsback, the sun started to set above the calm shallow lakes, and a high-pitched howl began in the distance. Another answered it. And another. And another. My Read More »
Read MoreDispose of household hazardous materials at the Regional Collection Center
Cleaners, pesticides, oil-based paints — how do you dispose of these items when you’re done with them? The Dickinson County Regional Collection Center (RCC) located in Milford accepts household hazardous materials such as these and disposes of them responsibly. HHMs, or household hazardous materials, are chemicals that are reactive, flammable, corrosive or poisonous. “Basically, it’s Read More »
Read MoreWildlife love Little Sioux Savanna and you should too
Walk into Little Sioux Savanna, a beautiful park just west of Milford, and take a seat on the mowed trail. Watch. Listen. Wait. A honeybee buzzes beside you as it gathers pollen in the prairie. A northern leopard frog jumps into the Little Sioux River just below where you’re seated. An eight-point buck and Read More »
Read MoreBig Spirit Lake’s perfect south shore
Only two years after the Dickinson County Conservation Board was established, it took on the care of a beautiful recreation area on the south side of Big Spirit Lake. The conservation board worked on an agreement with the State Conservation Commission for 25 years of management of Orleans Beach. The area east of the spillway Read More »
Read MoreWestport Park: An Iowa Great Lakes gem
In June 1981, Dickinson County Conservation Board entered into a maintenance agreement to refresh an exhausted county gravel pit into a county park. It started as only six acres, so small it looks like only a dot on a map of the Iowa Great Lakes area. The original document included on a 10-year agreement, but Read More »
Read MoreJudd Wildlife Area is a prairie paradise
Bobolinks nesting in the prairie, Blanding’s turtles resting by the stream, bald eagles flying overhead — a walk through the Judd Wildlife Area allows some of nature’s finest to show off. Twenty years ago, the Dickinson County Conservation Board looked to add a public recreation area south of Milford, and a Wildlife Habitat Stamp grant Read More »
Read MoreGrant supports garden improvements
The Dickinson County Conservation Board received a $6,200 grant from the Dickinson County Endowment Fund to expand the native gardens outside the nature center’s Butterfly House within Kenue Park in Okoboji. This grant funding will be used toward three specific additions in and around the existing gardens. “The goal of this project is to create Read More »
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