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About
our Projects
RC&D Councils seek and coordinate
assistance from a variety of public and private sources. Assistance
may include coordinating technical help from a government agency or
private consultant: planning a financing package for a project that
includes donations, loans, grants or cost-sharing; or bringing
together diverse groups to achieve common goals. What follows below
is a brief synopsis about completed, ongoing, and future projects
undertaken by the RC&D. Please feel free to browse, read the
synopsis and click on the highlighted text to find more in-depth
information.
Hungry Canyons
Alliance
 The
Hungry Canyons Alliance develops regional solutions to stream
channel erosion and degradation in the loess region of western
Iowa. This initiative has united local leaders in the 22-county
area to cooperatively plan, fund, and implement channel
stabilization projects. Since 1991, $3.8 million has been provided
by the USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service and $4.77 million
through state appropriations for use in streambed stabilization.
Member counties receiving Hungry Canyons Funds have provided 20
percent of the cost of structures.
More...
Loess Hills
National Scenic Byway
 Deep
loess soils are found in corrugated hills in seven counties adjacent
to the Missouri River. The Loess Hills National Scenic Byway
travels 220 miles through seven counties, two-dozen communities, and
beautiful and unique scenery. To improve travelers' understanding
of the area and to increase tourism, the Golden Hills RC&D worked
with the Western Iowa Tourism Region and the National Park Service
to produce a Byway Guidebook and install 42 interpretive panels
along the route.
More...
Community Services
The Golden
Hills RC&D has sponsored a variety of projects in small rural
communities in western Iowa. Some of the projects have been
economic development for small businesses or community improvement
projects. One of the most visible of these projects is the Wabash
Trace Nature Trail. This project provided technical and financial
assistance for natural resource and economic development along the
63-mile multi-use trail used annually by 30,000 visitors. Other
examples include: restrooms and park improvement in
Farragut; organizational assistance for
a Historical Park in Lewis; start-up assistance for a business
operated by physically challenged individuals and cabins at a county
park.
Technology
Services
Populations and resources in rural
areas are very often the last to
benefit from the application of technological advances and
innovations. In Iowa, the use of geographic information system (GIS)
technology at the local level to address rural issues is in the
early stages of development. The importance of sound natural
resource management to the economic and social well being of rural
communities and areas underscores the enormous potential of GIS as a
decision-making tool for resource managers, public officials, and
business owners. That being the case, Golden Hills RC&D, an
organization deeply concerned with the human environment and natural
resources in rural Iowa, has developed the expertise and acquired
the technical and material support necessary to serve as a regional
source of GIS assistance.
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Western Iowa
Grape Growers
Today, many people in the Loess Hills and western Iowa
are seeking new ways to live on the land. Adding diversity to a farm
or putting in an acre or two of grapes on a small homestead offers
new opportunities for landowners. As a perennial crop, grapes
prevent erosion of the loess soils and offer added income for the
landowner.
A vineyard can produce an
average of three tons of grapes per acre. One ton of grapes can make
up to 150 gallons of wine. Depending upon the grape, common or
premium, a grower may earn between $800 and $1500 per ton of grapes
harvested.
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Loess Hills Economic
Development Projects
This diverse category of projects has had projects
ranging from attempting to identify market-based products and
profit-making ventures utilizing a significant amount of Eastern Red
Cedar (Juniperus Virginian) and other
invasive woody vegetation growing in the Loess Hills region of
western Iowa to self-guided drive at your own pace tours of artists
studios in western Iowa..
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Loess Hills Invasive Species
Projects
Projects focused primarily on the challenges to reducing
woody vegetation and restoring a more natural fire regime in the
Loess Hills to studying and documenting the extent of the Bur Oak
savanna in western Iowa as well as providing incentives to restore
prairie areas in the Loess Hills.
More… |
