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| Our Mission: To protect and conserve the natural areas of Johnson and surrounding counties for future generations.
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Johnson County Heritage Trust 
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The Turkey Creek Preserve - 107.24 acres of woods and former pasture land, including 5 acres of reconstructed prairie, donated in 1981 by Webster and Gloria Gelman, John Greenleaf and Barbara Greenleaf Buckley, Gerald and Sarah Howe, and Mauricio and Emilia Lasansky. It is located on the south side of Sugar Bottom Road about 1.5 miles NW of the intersection with Newport Road. |
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Hora Woods - 19.52 acres of mature oak-hickory woods, rich in ferns and wildflowers, donated in 1986 by Mrs. Mabel Hora of rural West Branch, with the wish that it be "preserved in its natural state". It is located 4 miles NW of West Branch on Vincent Avenue just west of Oasis Road. |
| Shimek Ravine - 13 acres of oak-hickory forest in a hilly area just west of Shimek School (1400 Grissel Place) in Iowa City. It was purchased by nearby residents to protect it from development and donated to the Trust in 1992. |  |
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Belgum Grove - 40 acres of former pasture crossed by Dirty Face Creek, with an apple orchard and a small wetland. It was donated by David and Kathy Belgum in 1998, to be used for education, research, and recreation, and is located 4 miles west of Hills on the south side of 500th Street (F62). |
| Big Grove Preserve, a forty-acre woodland adjacent to the Coralville Reservoir off Sugar Bottom Road, made up part of the original “Big Grove” noted by the first settlers to describe Johnson County’s landscape. There is a network of hiking trails in the property. |  |
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| The Big Grove was acquired through a “bargain sale” (part gift/part purchase) in 2004 from Dick Schwab and Will Weibel, developers of the adjacent Natural Woodlands residential area. In addition to its ownership of the Big Grove the JCHT holds a conservation easement on eight and a half acres of each ten-acre lot in the Natural Woodlands development. While these easements are not open to public access they have the effect of increasing the area of protected land and will contribute to the preservation of the areas ecosystem. Directions: take 245th St. NE west from Sugar Bottom Road, about 2 mi. from Newport Rd., continuing onto Overview Drive (unmarked) to a turn-around located at the entrance to the Preserve. | ||
Strub Prairie, a small, but diverse, native prairie remnant harbors over 100 native species in the 1.08 acre preserve, and 1/3 acre conservation easement adjoining it. This land is along an abandoned railroad right of way at the northeast corner of Highway 382 and Polk Avenue. The land once housed a propane storage business owned by Bud Strub. It was affectionately known as "propane prairie." Bud made the purchase of this remnant possible in 2006. |
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The Pappy Dickens Preserve is a 16.5 acre preserve that borders Iowa City's Hickory Hill Park on its' North West side. The Friends of Hickory Hill Park were instrumental in the acquisition of the propertyand will be responsible for managing the Preserve for the Trust. The site provides a nice buffer for the Park and extends the large urban wild-land park habitat for wildlife and numerous bird species. The Preserve consists of a young, developing mixed-hardwood woodland, but was much more open in the past. |
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| There are currently issues with several invasive species including a large amount of honeysuckle. Plans are to remove invasive species and open up the canopy and let the site develop into an open woodland habitat. | ||
O’Mara-Newport Woods is a small wooded area (30 acres) just north of Iowa City adjacent to Rapid Creek. The property consists of rolling hills that includes about 5 acres of mature white oak forest cover, about 24 acres of developing young hardwood forest cover (red oak, black, walnut, white ash, and black cherry), and a 1 acre pasture. |
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| In the early 1970’s only 5 acres was in forest cover, and now some of the valuable upland hardwood forest cover that has been significantly reduced in Johnson County in recent years is being allowed to return on this property. | ||
Map OverviewStreet Addresses Click here to download the JCHT property street addresses (pdf). |
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