HARRIS, Iowa -- The Osceola County Conservation Board has been gifted more than 200 acres of land in the last four years, the most recent of which is an 80-acre parcel near Harris that has an estimated value of more than half a million dollars.
Ron Spengler, OCCB director, said the land was bequeathed to the board by Rachel Sorenson Forbes, a long-time educator and Osceola County resident who died in February 2007.
Spengler said the land is a "generous donation" and will help fund conservation efforts by the OCCB for years to come.
"I just can't believe this," said Spengler. "We're at the point where we may not even need to utilize tax dollars to run our program. I'm really excited about it."
The land, which includes a homestead, will remain in the life estate of Forbes' daughter, Cymbelene, until her death or unless she decides to do something sooner with the property, Spengler said.
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The OCCB is tasked with improving and maintaining the parks of Osceola County, as well as the preservation of rare and unique areas such as prairies, wetlands and geological formations like the Ocheyedan Mound.
"The prairies are the rarest thing we are preserving," Spengler said, adding that the OCCB-managed Wolter's Prairie near Ocheyedan, Iowa, is home to rare and threatened species such as the Blanding's Turtle, upland sandpiper, Dakota Skipper butterfly, green milkweed and prairie bush clover.
"Anything that we can use to preserve those areas, like monetary gifts, we certainly appreciate," Spengler said. "Only one-tenth of 1 percent of the 28 million acres remains original tall-grass native prairie in Iowa."
Attorney Dan DeKoter, of DeKoter, Thole & Dawson PLC in Sibley, Iowa, had recommended the OCCB to Forbes several years ago when she was searching for public agencies for gifting her assets. At that time, Forbes met with Spengler to discuss the future of the 80-acre parcel.
"I met with Rachel when she was 95 years old," Spengler recalled. They talked about options for the land, including ideas of organic farming, native plant propagation and establishing a scholarship for students interested in studying conservation or a related field.
"We even talked about having a bison display pasture," he said, adding that the location of the land along Iowa 9 would make a nice setting for native prairie and roaming bison.
"She liked the idea of the native plant propagation," said Spengler. "It would be a replication of the prairie. You can't duplicate what nature did for 10,000 years, but we can do some impressive plantings that the average person would never (recognize as) not a native prairie."
Forbes' gift to the OCCB is the third to be handled by the DeKoter, Thole & Dawson law office.
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"That makes a marvelous thing for the county, if people are aware that they can gift land for tax purposes or whatever reason they may have," said Spengler. "If we decide to rent out the land and acreage, it would generate about $20,000 a year for the county. That would go into the coffers of the county conservation board to make improvements to and maintain our county parks."
Spengler said the Forbes family will be recognized in April during a ceremony honoring those who have made generous donations to the State of Iowa.
