Polk County Conservation considers new ATV park
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An ATV at Jericho Mountain State Park in New Hampshire. Photo: Ben McCanna/Portland Portland Press Herald via Getty Images
Polk County Conservation (PCC) is considering building a new park for all-terrain and off-road vehicles east of Pleasant Hill.
Why it matters: PCC executive director Rich Leopold says the new park could be an opportunity to expand outdoor recreation without tapping into taxpayer dollars, though some board members have questioned the impact on local wildlife.
How it started: A decade ago, PCC purchased land, now called Vandalia Wildlife Area, where it could put material it dredged up from Easter Lake.
- The 300-acre site is an old gravel pit area that sits next to the Wastewater Reclamation Authority and MidAmerican Energy facilities, with no nearby homes or businesses, Leopold says.
- Since then, the area has been little known, except by some outdoor enthusiasts and people who illegally drive their ATVs in the area, he says.
State of play: The Iowa Off-Highway Vehicle Association approached PCC about the park. PCC is in preliminary discussions about building it and hasn't made any decisions yet, Leopold says.
- In Iowa, people who use ATVs and ORVs on public land must pay the Iowa Department of Natural Resources to register their vehicles, which helps fund building and managing ATV/ORV parks across the state. The fund has $6 million.
- For PCC to support the project, the park would also need to have conservation benefits, such as building wetlands or planting trees, and other outdoor recreation, like fishing or hiking trails.
- There are no public ATV/ORV parks in the Des Moines metro. The nearest one is in Marshalltown.
The other side: Some PCC board members have expressed concerns about introducing ATVs, noting wildlife in the area like ospreys, eagles and trumpeter swans. They also raised concerns about erosion from the vehicles.
- Leopold says PCC would conduct wildlife surveys before moving forward, and the conservation board could vote down the project.
What's next: This month, he plans to take the conservation board to tour the Vandalia Wildlife Area and then to an off-road park near Fort Dodge.
- Leopold expects the board to decide by late summer.