Volunteers Improve Fish Habitat

If you like to fish, you might try Turtle Lake at Stone State Park.  Several people volunteered their time to make fishing better this year.

For his Eagle Scout project, boy scout Greg Anderson made several improvements this past summer.

In this photo Anderson (on the left) gets ready to sink fish habitat in the lake.  Anderson and other scouts constructed the habitat on shore.  The structure was loaded onto the flat-bottom boat and sunk off shore.  Fish are attracted to the artificial structure.

Anderson also installed a new informational kiosk near the parking area which describes the fish that you might catch in Turtle Lake.  A bench was also installed near the lake by scouts.

 

Although there is ice on the lake now, get out and drill a couple of holes and fish over the new structure - you are almost guaranteed a bite!

 



Upcoming Prairie Events Celebrate Our Prairie Heritage

White Prairie Clover (photo by Randy Williams)

 



Stone State Park is a great place to see native prairie plants - especially in late summer.  Few people visit the far north side of the park.  Mt. Talbot State Preserve was established in 1989 to protect some of the most outstanding prairie remnants in our state. 

Purple Prairie Clover (photo by Randy Williams)

 

Two upcoming events celebrate our prairie heritage-

 



Sioux City's Prairie Past and Present - Iowa Prairie Heritage
September 8, 2013 2pm
Sioux City Public Museum, 607 4th St, Sioux City, IA

Using photos and information from the museum archives, early images of Sioux City will be shown giving a glimpse of the Loess Hills and the prairie that vegetated much of the area.

Iowa Prairie Heritage Week Prairie Walk at Mount Talbot State Preserve
September 9, 2013 6:30pm

To celebrate Iowa Prairie Heritage Week, join Dianne Blankenship and other prairie enthusiasts as we hike the main ridge of the beautiful Mount Talbot State Preserve. Located on the north edge of Stone State Park, access is from Talbot Road.

This will be a fairly leisurely walk along the ridge of this Loess Hill prairie in search of late-blooming prairie wildflowers. Access will be impossible if Talbot Road is muddy and the field trip will be cancelled. Check back at this calendar. for updates.

Directions: As you approach Stone Park on Memorial Drive, turn right onto Talbot Road and travel north and then west. Watch for the sign for the preserve on the left, south.
If approaching from Hwy. 12, turn onto Talbot Road north of Stone Park, and the preserve will be on the right, south side of Talbot. Again, if the unimproved part of Talbot Road is muddy, the field trip will be cancelled.

Turtle Lake Fish Habitat

The River City Anglers and Friends of Stone Park had a volunteer work day on June 29th to improve habitat for fish and improve angler's success.  This time of year, aquatic vegetation can make it more difficult to fish from shore at Turtle Lake.  In fact, most ponds in Iowa have an abundance of vegetation in mid-summer.

The pond is stocked with Grass Carp which help with some of the problem.  However, the Anglers wanted to do more.  The two groups worked together to install some landscape fabric in 3 places along the shoreline.  The fabric was topped with small rocks.

The fabric will keep down rooted vegetation along shore.  The pea gravel will attract spawning panfish.  Young anglers will be able to see the panfish from shore and have a greater chance of catching fish!

Funding for this project came from a Toyota Every Day Event Grant.  Future plans call for volunteers to install benches, a fishing information kiosk, and underwater fish structure.  The fish seem appreciative and are using the area already!

Volunteers add rock to the top of fabric one bucket at a time.

Thanks for Mayhem at Stone State Park!

Children's Miracle Network and the Friends of Stone Park were proud to sponsor the Mayhem 2013 event at Stone State Park.  Thank you to all who slogged through the mud to benefit Children's Miracle Network.  Thanks to the sponsors, the volunteers, and all the participants for making the event a success!  I hope you all had fun.

 

Mud is actually good.

I actually look forward to next year.

Audubon Sponsors Hike at Spirit Knoll

The Loess Hills chapter of the National Audubon Society hosted a hike at Spirit Knoll on Saturday, May 4th.  Tim Sproul from the Iowa Natural Heritage Foundation led the hike with help from Bill Zales, Iowa DNR Wildlife Biologist Doug Chafa, and Park Ranger Kevin Pape.

Although the weather was less than ideal, participants were able to learn about the natural history of the area. Hikers got to see Spirit Knoll's landscape, wildlife, and even a few blooming prairie plants.
Special thanks go to the members of the Loess Hills chapter of Audubon for their $5,000 donation to the Burcham addition to Spirit Knoll.

A few of the highlights of the hike include seeing a Black-crowned Night Heron on the 7 acre lake, learning about Cedar Apple Rust, and finding several blooming Missouri Milk Vetch plants.  (photos courtesy of Randy Williams)

Siouxland Nature Additions

The Friends of Stone Park recently presented a check in the amount of $10,000 to the Iowa Natural Heritage Foundation (INHF).

The INHF will use the funds for the Siouxland Nature Additions.  Read more about it here -http://www.inhf.org/siouxland-nature-additions.cfm
(left to right, Zac Chwirka, Pres. Friends of Stone Park, Anita O'Gara, -Vice-Pres. of Development INHF, John Gray, and Greg Grupp -INHF-Board Members).

Volunteers Wanted to Help Clean-up the Highway

The Friends have their annual Roadside Clean-up on Saturday, April 27th, 2013.  Meet at the parking lot of Dorothy Pecaut Nature Center, 4500 Sioux River Rd. at 10:00 AM.  We will provide trash bags.  The event lasts for two hours.  Please bring gloves.  We will be working along State Highway 12 for the Adopt-A-Highway program.

The Stone Park Diet

Quite a few locals use the park for regular exercise.  Some people walk their dog in the park every day.  Some people take to the park's trails every day.  Of course the park roads are closed this time of year, so some hearty souls love to walk the roads.

I have talked to more than one person that claimed to have lost significant weight by walking in the park every day.  So if your New Years Resolution is to lose weight, take the "Stone Park Diet" by walking the park at least three times a week for some great cardio.  It sure beats the treadmill!