The state of iowa requested a grant for congressionally directed funding for the acquisition of a conservation easement located within iowas driftless region forest legacy area, which the state…

The U.S. Department of Agriculture Forest Service awarded $4.45 million to the Iowa Department of Natural Resources on July 30, 2025, under the Forest Legacy Program (CFDA 10.676) for the acquisition of a conservation easement protecting 1,456 acres within Iowa's Driftless Region Forest Legacy Area. The Catfish Creek Headwaters Project will preserve environmentally significant forestland identified by the state and authorized by the Secretary of Agriculture as having substantial public values of national and state significance. The primary deliverable is the conservation easement acquisition, which will ensure the sustainable production of high-quality timber to support regional economic activity, including 12 mills located within 60 miles of the project area.

The project has an ultimate completion date of September 30, 2029, and operates within the Forest Legacy Program's framework, a voluntary federal-state conservation partnership designed to protect privately owned forest lands threatened by conversion to non-forest uses. This grant exemplifies the program's core mission of identifying and protecting ecologically and economically important forest areas through conservation easements, with the state serving as the primary implementer and grant recipient responsible for project execution and stewardship of the protected lands through the completion date.

The state of iowa requested a grant for congressionally directed funding for the acquisition of a conservation easement located within iowas driftless region forest legacy area, which the state identified and subsequently was authorized by the secretary of agriculture as having significant public values of both national and state significance. The catfish creek headwaters project comprises 1,456 acres and provides the public benefit of sustainable production of high-quality timber to help support the 12 mills located within 60 miles of the project.