LUCAS COUNTY — A rugged new addition to Iowa’s public wildlife lands has completed a remarkable 17-mile stretch of protected ground extending from Chariton to Lake Rathbun.
The newly acquired 356-acre Rathbun Wildlife Area (pictured at top, via DNR) sits in southeastern Lucas County and offers the kind of remote setting sought by hunters, hikers, birders and others hoping to get well off the beaten path.
Parking is available at the adjacent Slab Castle Wildlife Area, which is managed by the Lucas County Conservation Board. Together with surrounding state, county and federal property, the new parcel fills the final gap in the 17-mile expanse of wildlife habitat.
“This area is already good, but has the potential to be even better,” said Heath Van Waus, a wildlife biologist with the Iowa Department of Natural Resources’ Rathbun Wildlife Unit.
The DNR is working with the Iowa Natural Heritage Foundation and Lucas County Conservation Board to manage the new property and neighboring parcels as a larger, interconnected habitat.
The transformation is already underway.
Crews have spent roughly 18 months removing and grinding invasive autumn olive, honeysuckle and encroaching cedar trees. Prescribed fire was then used across approximately 320 acres, including timber and former grasslands that had gone at least two decades without burning. Some portions may never previously have been treated with fire.
“It’s been responding really well,” Van Waus said.
Now entering its second growing season, the restored prairie is beginning to reveal what had been buried beneath years of brush and invasive growth. Round-headed bush clover, gray-headed coneflower and showy tick trefoil have emerged, bringing bees, insects and grassland birds back to the hills.
A seven-acre hillside that may contain remnant prairie is showing particular promise. Once covered by autumn olive, scattered cedars and pin oaks, the hillside has been cleared and burned twice.
The resulting open ground could provide valuable habitat for young wild turkeys and northern bobwhite quail. Prairie flowers attract protein-rich insects, while the spacing between plants allows small chicks to move and feed more easily.
Evidence that wildlife is already responding was easy to find. A quail perched on a dead tree branch and whistled across the prairie during a humid July morning while a goldfinch called nearby.
The property’s restoration is not limited to upland prairie.
A meandering section of the Chariton River flows through the southern portion of the wildlife area. Old berms hidden beneath dense vegetation in the river bottom may provide the foundation for a future wetland.
According to Van Waus, the main berm had been overtopped and required repairs. Crews regraded it with the goal of eventually creating a 26-acre wetland.
A new water-control structure has already been installed. Once breaches in the berm are repaired, wildlife managers expect to be able to flood the basin and adjust water levels to provide the greatest benefit for wetland birds and other species.
Wildlife sightings along the project area suggest the land is already serving as a refuge. Two wild turkeys flushed from tall grass beside the main berm, while a hen pheasant accompanied by 10 small chicks escaped into a neighboring cornfield.
The new acquisition builds upon broader prairie-restoration work underway around Lake Rathbun. NIT previously reported on efforts to uncover and restore native prairie on hills near the lake. Read that earlier NIT story here.
For now, wildlife officials plan to take a measured approach—removing invasive plants, using carefully managed fire and watching how the landscape responds.
If the first two growing seasons are any indication, an already impressive wildlife area may only be getting started.