Conservation Board continues to offer activities during winter

Katie Cantu/Special to Daily News Dozens of people attended the 2008 cross country skiing and snowshoeing outing hosted by the Jasper County Conservation Board. The Board is planning another outing on Jan. 31.

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Despite Iowa’s winter weather, the Jasper County Conservation Board is continuing to offer a variety of outdoor activities in the county’s parks and throughout the community. Among those activities planned for Iowa’s winter is the Owl Prowl at 5 p.m. Saturday at Krumm Nature Preserve. During the program attendees will go on a night hike with JCCB naturalist Nathan Unsworth. Unsworth will lead the group through the park in search for owls. “We’ll be investigating the natural wonders of the night,” Unsworth said. “The owls will be nesting, and they are very territorial, so I think we will see a few owls.” During the Owl Prowl, there also will be black light tracking to see where animals have foraged for food and left their tracks behind. “This is a program we haven’t done for a while, and we’re trying to keep doing new things with our programs,” said Katie Cantu, JCCB naturalist. Cantu also will be hosting a program on area birds. Cantu’s program is called “Backyard Birds” and is at 9:30 a.m. Saturday, Jan. 17 at the Newton Arboretum. The program, which is sponsored by the JCCB and Project AWAKE, will cover different types of feed, seeders and planning habitat that will benefit wild birds. Cantu said the program has been well attended in the past due to the popularity of bird feeding. “Bird feeding is pretty popular around here,” she said. “It’s the second most popular hobby to gardening.” If birds aren’t of interest, the JCCB has planned a cross-country skiing and snowshoeing instructional workshop on Jan. 31 at Krumm. During the event, the JCCB staff will provide cross-country skiing and snowshowing instructions — if there’s snow. “Everyone gets stuck inside this time of year and we’re hoping to get people outdoors and help them enjoy the outdoor winter weather,” Unsworth said. Both Unsworth and Cantu said they were excited about a new program they are offering for the first time in February. The JCCB have scheduled two ice fishing clinics on Saturday, Feb. 7 at Mariposa Lake. The first clinic is from 10 a.m. to noon for youth 13 to 18 years old, and the second clinic is open to everyone and begins at 1 p.m. The naturalists said the clinic will focus on ice fishing techniques and safety. The conservation board also will have equipment on hand for participants to use. “We had our first fishing derby last summer, and it was a huge success,” Cantu said. “A lot of families came out for that, and we felt this was a natural extension of that. And it sounded like a fun thing to do since we’ve had so much ice this year.” The Owl Prowl, Backyard Birds, snowshoeing and ice fishing programs are all free, like most of the JCCB sponsored events. The cost of the programs is one reason why the JCCB has seen a large increase in the number of those attending their activities. In 2008, 10,925 people of all ages attended various activities from the first fishing derby to school field trips. That’s an increase of more than 3,000 people from 2007 when the JCCB served 7,829 individuals. “We reached 34 percent of Jasper County’s population with our programs and activities,” said Cantu. “That’s an all time high.” JCCB Director Keri Van Zante gives credit to the economy, the variety of programs offered and especially her staff for the success found in 2008. “All of our employees have gotten involved with the programs and it has made it a good year,” she said. For more information about the conservation board’s programs and upcoming activities, call (641) 792-9780 or visit the JCCB Web site at www.co.jasper.ia.us/Conservation/. “We’re trying to change our focus at (JCCB) from just getting people into our parks to getting people into our parks and doing things year round. We’re offering a variety of programs right now to try and reach that goal.”

Jessica Lowe can be contacted at 792-3121 ext. 426 or via e-mail at jlowe@newtondailynews.com.