Mt. Pleasant Whitetail Unlimited Chapter contributes to public land acquisition

MT. PLEASANT — Thanks in part to contributions from the Mt. Pleasant and Tri-County chapters of Whitetails Unlimited Southeast Iowa now has 19 additional acres of land open for public use.

Men and women dressed in camouflage and blue as they celebrated the acquisition of 19.44 acres of land adjacent to Hickory Bend Conservation Area earlier this month.

“This is a big day in a lot of different ways,” Lee said. “This is a big day in conservation in that we just acquired 19.4 acres of land that is immediately adjacent to a 250-acre conservation area.”

According to Whitetails Unlimited Iowa Field Director Tim Powers, DMCC initially was unable to purchase this land due to a lack of funds and that’s when they reached out to organizations like Whitetails Unlimited, Pheasants Forever, and the National Wild Turkey Federation for help.

With a mission to “open up more land for public use,” Powers said donating to this land acquisition easily fell in line with Whitetails Unlimited’s intentions as an organization.

“We don’t invest in land purchases unless the public can use them for trails or hunting or something,” Powers said.

For Mt. Pleasant Chapter organizer Dan Cook, the decision to contribute was easy because he saw the land as a good opportunity for more public hunting ground.

While this land is now public land free for public use, Lee says it also contains a habitat for two endangered species of bats.

“The Northern Long Eared and the Indiana Bat are literally facing extinction,” Lee said. “So, this is one thing as conservationists that we can do our part to help conserve that species.”

From funds raised by the Tri-County and Mt. Pleasant chapters at their annual fundraising events, these local Whitetails Unlimited chapters support local conservation efforts like these along with shooting sports in local schools, conservation education, and outdoors education.

For this project, Whitetails Unlimited’s national chapter donated $5,000, and Mt. Pleasant and Tri-County contributed $2,500 each for a total $10,000 donation.

“It’s a big day for the outdoors community, too,” Lee said. “The property was purchased 100% with dollars from wildlife organizations and hunting license sales.”

Lee stated that no tax money went toward this purchase.

“Anybody that has ever supported a wildlife organization, such as those going to the banquets or buying your hunting license, paying the habitat fee, you’re the ones that paid for this,” he said.

For Lee and other members of the outdoor community in Southeast Iowa, opening up public land like this means more than just providing a space for outdoor activities like hiking and hunting.

“There are kids sitting in class today that will at some point in the future spend time on these acres with their parents, or their grandpa, or a friend,” Lee said. “There are kids that will harvest their first deer or turkey or squirrel there. They will have the experiences and make the memories that will define them later as adults, the way similar experiences define many of us. And there will come a time in their lives when Grandpa isn't around anymore and they'll look back on those experiences and they'll be thankful that people like you made places like this possible for them. There's a word for what we've done here. It's called Legacy. And for that, we should be proud.”

As Lee thanked all those that donated to this land purchase and the impact it will have on future generations, Earl Stuekerjuergen reminded the group that these efforts were made by multiple counties including Lee and Henry County.

“The outdoors community doesn’t care about jurisdictional boundaries,” Lee said. “Outdoors is the outdoors no matter where you’re at.”

“As the head of Des Moines County Conservation, as a parent of hopefully future outdoor kids, and just a community member here in Des Moines County, I cannot thank you and this community enough for what you’ve done,” Lee said.

Comments: AnnaMarie.Ward@southeastiowaunion.com