GILLETTE GROVE — A recently acquired 425-acre tract in southern Clay County is giving the Little Sioux Wildlife Area a major boost, adding rare remnant prairie, more than two miles of river corridor and a mix of habitat that supports hunting, fishing, birding, hiking and conservation work.
The Iowa Department of Natural Resources acquired the Callahan Tract from the Iowa Natural Heritage Foundation in 2023. The foundation had previously purchased the property from Tim Callahan.
The land includes roughly 30 acres of never-plowed prairie, a rare feature in a state where most original prairie was converted to agriculture generations ago. The tract also includes oxbows, upland and floodplain timber, steep hillsides and frontage along the Little Sioux River.
“It’s been a known remnant prairie for 42 years,” said Dusten Paulus, wildlife biologist with the Iowa DNR’s Prairie Lakes Unit in Ruthven.
The site’s prairie history dates back at least to 1984, when the Daily family, which owned the property at the time, asked the state conservation commission to survey the hillside prairie. That survey was conducted over two visits, three weeks apart, and identified nearly 100 different prairie plant species.
“It’s just a mosaic of habitat – oxbows, upland and floodplain timber, steep hills,” Paulus said. “The hills couldn’t be farmed so they hayed it and grazed it. It’s part of one of the largest remaining remnant prairie corridors in the state, which is mostly on private land.”
That makes the Callahan Tract especially important for public conservation. Much of Iowa’s remaining prairie exists in small, scattered patches, and larger connected corridors are valuable for wildlife, pollinators, native plants and long-term habitat recovery.
Work is now underway to reclaim and restore the prairie through the Little Sioux Watershed Conservation Partnership, a coalition of nearly 20 public and private organizations led by The Nature Conservancy.
Conservation crews have been removing undesirable trees and brush from the prairie and using prescribed fire to manage the area. Fire helps open the prairie canopy, return sunlight to the ground and encourage native plants to grow back stronger.
Prescribed fire was used on the tract in 2024, and a large tree and brush removal project was completed this past winter. Paulus said the DNR plans to burn the prairie again in early 2027.
“We’re hoping to get the remnant re-inventoried in the summer of 2027, to help monitor the response of the recent management activities,” Paulus said.
By late May, the prairie was beginning to show signs of the season. Native plants identified at the site include leadplant, hoary puccoon, little bluestem, white sage, rattlesnake master, prairie dropseed, false indigo, compass plant, prairie violet, prairie phlox, cup plant, round-headed bush clover, partridge pea and more.
Prairie violet is especially important because it is a host plant needed by regal fritillary butterflies. According to the DNR, the Callahan prairie contains a large amount of prairie violets.
“We will see all the colors of the rainbow in early July,” Paulus said.
The wildlife value of the tract is already clear. Grassland birds such as dickcissels, meadowlarks and bobolinks can be heard across the prairie, along with the crowing of rooster pheasants.
Closer to the Little Sioux River, timber becomes more prominent. The east side of the property includes silver maple, cottonwood and ash. Higher on the west side are bur oaks, bitternut hickory and black walnut.
“We really appreciate the true remnant timbered areas in the Little Sioux corridor and try to maintain them,” Paulus said. “Northwest Iowa is known for pheasants and waterfowl, but we have a pretty significant and unique river system here.”
The area is also expected to draw interest from deer and turkey hunters, as well as anglers, paddlers and wildlife watchers.
Local farmers are helping with habitat management, including work to convert areas of brome or canary grass into more diverse reconstructed prairie. One part of that process involves using habitat leases to farm certain parcels temporarily, helping prepare the soil and eliminate previous cover before prairie reconstruction begins.
The Little Sioux River itself plays a major role in the property’s future. The river provides fishing opportunities and will eventually become part of the Inkpaduta Canoe Trail, which is expected to become the longest inland water trail in Iowa. When completed, the trail will stretch more than 200 miles.
Public river access is expected to improve over the next few years, with plans for a new concrete boat ramp and gravel parking lot. The ramp will be located on the east side of the river, just off County Road B53/435th Street, north of Gillette Grove.
For northwest Iowa, the Callahan Tract represents more than another public wildlife area addition. It preserves a rare piece of native prairie, protects river corridor habitat, expands outdoor recreation and gives the public access to a landscape that reflects what parts of Iowa looked like before widespread settlement and cultivation.
“The Callahan Tract has a little bit of everything – whether you like to hunt or fish, hike or bird, you can do it here, there’s something for everyone,” Paulus said. “It’s a really cool area with a lot of history.”
(TOP PHOTO: The Little Sioux Watershed Conservation Partnership, consisting of nearly 20 public and private organizations, has been working to remove undesirable trees and brush from the Callahan tract’s remnant prairie. The Iowa DNR is planning to inventory the plant community in 2027. Photo courtesy of the Iowa DNR.)