Bauer Slough grows with Grace land

All because someone gave a gift

By Lori Berglund — Daily Freeman-Journal Editor
Brian Lammers swears that old Henry Redling could look at Briggs Woods Lake and tell whether or not the catfish would be biting that day.

Lammers, now executive director of the Hamilton County Conservation Board, used to help out Redling on some of his best fishing days at the lake. There were times, Lammers recalled, when Redling caught fish so big that he needed help hauling them to the top of the hill.

And that's not just another fish story.

Redling, who passed away in 2004, is being fondly remembered this spring for a gift he left that has inspired others to help create a lasting legacy for future generations to enjoy and savor as a way of treasuring the past.

"Don't forget it was Henry Redling who started all this," Rusty Grace of Kamrar told Hamilton County Conservation Board members a few months back.

Grace, representing his sisters and himself, was being thanked by the board for the patience of the Grace family in working out a purchase agreement for what has become known as the Grace II Addition to Bauer Slough, a highly-prized wetland southeast of Briggs Woods Park that is a critical part of the lake's larger watershed.

Redling started it all by choosing to give away 80 acres of good farmland in his will. Upon his death, the 80-acre tract was split equally between Bethesda Lutheran Church of Jewell and the Hamilton County Chapter of Pheasants Forever.

But Pheasants Forever isn't in the business of farming prime cropland. It does have, as its primary mission, the goal of providing habitat for wildlife. So Pheasants Forever put its 40 acres up for sale and, with the profits, purchased 82 acres from the Grace Family next to the 260-acre Bauer Slough. The purchase was officially made through the Iowa Natural Heritage Foundation, with Pheasants Forever providing 90 percent of the Redling farm sale proceeds to cover the cost.

Under their bylaws, Pheasants Forever Chapters are not allowed to own land, and thus cooperated with both the Iowa Natural Heritage Foundation and Hamilton County Conservation to make the Bauer Slough additions possible.

In 2007, the Grace family decided to sell another 75 acres adjacent to the site. And they wanted to complete the sale in 2007, which could have been easily done had the family simply sold to the highest bidder. Instead, Rusty Grace and his sisters, Barb and Sharon Grace, decided to be a little more patient as local groups worked to secure grant funding, which at times proved challenging.

A REAP (Resource Enhancement and Protection) grant was initially submitted to the state, but failed to score high enough to secure the needed purchase funds.

Another private funding source also proved to be a dead-end road.

But one private company did agree to help out. Lammers voiced his strong appreciation to Bob Van Diest and Van Diest Supply Company for "a very generous donation" that assisted with the final purchase price.

In addition, Lammers submitted a Wildlife Habitat Stamp Fund grand application, which received full funding.

These funds, along with payments of the Wetland Reserve Program, as well as funds from the Hamilton County Conservation Legacy Account and yet another donation from Pheasants Forever finally made the purchase of the Grace II Addition possible earlier this year.

Lammers and board members have expressed their appreciation to the Grace family for waiting out the long grant process and resisting the temptation to sell to other potential buyers. Like Redling, the Grace family saw the value of preserving parts of Iowa for their native beauty, as well as their role in providing a cleaner environment for today.

"This is one of the most unique and diverse areas in Hamilton County," Lammers said of the Bauer Slough and Grace Additions. The original slough, which includes both remnant and reconstructed prairie, is a critical component of watershed improvement projects for Briggs Woods Lake.

Along with the Grace and Redling families, Lammers expressed his appreciation to Van Diest Supply, the Iowa Natural Heritage Foundation and Pheasants Forever, which formed this complex partnership to preserve a chunk of land that offers a precious reminder of what Iowa was like when pioneers first arrived to begin breaking the prairie sod.



Contact Lori Berglund at editor@freemanjournal.net