Conservation prepares for summer camping season

MARENGO — New interpretive signage has caught the attention of visitors to Lake Iowa Park, Iowa County Conservation Director Jacob Slings told Iowa County Supervisors Friday.

The signs, paid for by Friends of Iowa County Conservation Foundation and installed by Conservation staff, explain swales, pollinator plants and other features at the Park, said Slings.

The signs are one of many improvements made to the Park as Iowa County Conservation prepares for summer and a vibrant camping season. Slings said he saw 40 people stop to look at the signs the first week they were placed.

The Conservation staff is completing spring tasks and getting ready for summer, said Slings. The staff knocked down more than 150 dead ash trees, burned about 140 acres at Lake Iowa and conducted some controlled burning at Gateway Park in Marengo.

Iowa County Conservation replaced the sand on the playground at the lake with mulch after Slings received some complaints about wasps in the sand. Sand wasps are not social or communal as many wasps are, Slings said. They nest in sand.

Slings said the wasps nested in the sand on the lake playground because of a lack of foot traffic that would keep them away.

The sand from the playground was moved to the beach.

A & M Earthmoving removed junk that included asphalt millings, old urinals, fish cases and tires from a 25-acre section at Lake Iowa, said Slings. A & M hauled out seven or eight truckloads to clear out the area so Iowa County Conservation can stage equipment and material there.

Before the end of the fiscal year June 30, Iowa County Conservation plans to renovate a shelter that, according to Slings, probably hasn’t been upgraded since the 1960s. The shelter will get new electrical panels and outlets, Slings said.

Lake Iowa Park has 24 lights, said Slings, but only seven work. He knows people like nights to be dark when they are camping, but the Park needs lights in some areas for safety reasons.

Slings will try to find a balance, he said. “Not overlighting it, but keeping it safe.”

Another Lake project will change electrical camp sites from 30 amps to 50 amps.

At Gateway Park in Marengo, Iowa County Conservation will rehab a boat dock with the help of grant money. The dock blows off its foundation three or four times a year, said Slings. Iowa Conservation will fix that and will flatten the dock, he said.

Slings also wants to add a boat ramp at Gateway and is working through the grant process in hopes of getting money for that project.

Slings said Scott Hamlin and Josh Humphries had helped with some controlled burns.

“[It’s] nice to have extra hands on deck,” said Slings. He’s trying to get volunteers back at the lake.

Hamlin, who has been going to the lake for years, said people should visit the lake and see how it’s changed under Slings’ direction.

“Things are a lot different now, and going forward,” said Hamlin, “and I think it’s inspiring.”