The extended family members involved in the Bartels Bartels & Fox LP chose to sell these three parcels of land within a quarter-mile of Big Spirit Lake to Iowa Natural Heritage Foundation in 2019 for conservation. Once restoration is complete, the project will provide lasting benefits for water quality, wildlife, outdoor recreation and the community. The family has owned land in the neighborhood known as McClelland Beach since 1866.
INHF owns the Wallace & Bowers Nature Area just east of this project site. It has also helped establish many public conservation lands in Dickinson County. The North Shore Project will help create a larger complex of protected land in the Iowa Great Lakes region.
Management and Restoration:
INHF will consider how wetlands and prairie can be restored on this land in ways that offer the greatest benefit for water quality. Big Spirit Lake serves as a drinking water source, and its waters also flow into the other lakes within the Iowa Great Lakes system.