Recipes for Living Anita Foland

Since September 1991, I have been employed as Director of Clarke County Conservation. I am answerable to the Conservation Board, whose five members are appointed by the County Supervisors. The director basically manages the county parks and recreation areas, selecting the staff, regulating the county parks, recommending policy, approving expenditures, etc., with approval of the board.

I was the only full-time staff member at the beginning and now we have three full-time and one part-time employee. Jole Jessip and Shawn Palmer are full-time Park Technicians. Beth Brown, our naturalist, is part-time. She is our liaison with the school system, doing the environmental education and public programs.

John Klein was my predecessor. In his 14 or 15 years, he accomplished a lot. He had the advantage of being in the position prior to budget cuts and he was able to hire more people. John had a grounds crew of college or high school age kids, and three senior citizens who were employed under the federal Green Thumb program. Mary Lou Marvin was the supervisor of the program, juggling federal and state funds to pay the employees- Ernie Harger, Vern Hesseltein, and George Ashby. This was designed to be a training as well as transitional program as the men went from farming into retirement. They brought to the program invaluable knowledge of and experience with machines, carpentry, plumbing, and the soil.

My memory goes back to the time when there was a beach and swimming at East Lake. Our family held reunions there and had wonderful times. Then came Robinson's pool, where I worked as a life guard while I was in college, and now we have the Aquatic Center, and East Lake Park is being developed for other types of recreation.

All of the park areas had been acquired when I was hired. However, we doubled the size of East Lake Park by purchasing the adjoining 80 1/2 acres from J.D. Patterson, making it now a 160 acre park. We are slowly converting the new acquisition from crop ground, and it is about 1/3 native grasses. We have also built a pond in that area, where in time I hope to move the Trumpeter swans. That will not happen until we get the area fenced to protect them from predators, and an aeration system that will keep the water open during the winter. At the present time, the swans are a big attraction. Where they are now, the public has easy access, so we are a bit reluctant to move them. It is also easier to feed and check on them where they are, but originally this was what I had in mind when we built the pond. It would be pristine, and would never have been fished. We lost one of the cygnets to lead poisoning. It had ingested a sinker, which could easily happen because they feed from the lake bottom and pick up rocks, sand, and grit. Ingesting one sinker would kill them. But we will have to wait until we have roads and utilities before my plan can become a reality. On June 10, 2004, four more cygnets hatched.

Clarke County has four county parks. Hopeville had made their town square into a park and turned it over to the Conservation Board. The Conservation Board developed the Murray Roadside Park, which was owned by the DOT (Department of Transportation) and bought by the county for a minimal amount. In 1973, the city of Osceola, who owned East Lake Park, deeded it over to the county. Now Liberty Park has been developed from what had been the town square. Formerly it was a park, but not maintained. Recently interest was rekindled. The old, unsafe playground equipment was replaced and a picnic table was built. It will be an attractive spot for family reunions or a stop for travelers on highway 69.

Clarke County has Redfern Timber Reserve which was leased to the county for a 25 year period that will be up in 2004. The plan is to extend the lease short term. Each year we take third graders from Murray and Osceola schools there for an all-day field trip. We do a pond study, nature hikes, observe the wild life, have games, etc. Also there are three wildlife areas: Turkey Ridge, located east and south of Osceola on Otter Creek; Green Pine Wildlife Area, formerly the Green Christmas Tree Farm, north of town at Jamison; and Coyote Canyon Wildlife Area located in Washington Township. Pheasants Forever put $10,000 toward the purchase of Green Pine Wildlife Area and $20,000 toward obtaining the Patterson property.

In 1989, Congress approved using gambling proceeds to fund a Resource Enhancement and Protection program, referred to as REAP. License plates with a goldfinch and wild rose indicate promotion of REAP - part of the proceeds from the sale of the plates go toward funding this program. The state is divided into districts, and representatives from the district form a REAP committee. Anyone can participate in the REAP Congress, held every two years, which usually has a representative from every county in the district. The county is eligible to receive REAP allocation from the state if they invest at least 22¢ per mil in the county's conservation program.

REAP money is apportioned out to Departments of Environmental Education, Natural Resources, Conservation Services, and County Conservation Boards. City Parks and Recreation Departments are eligible to apply for this money, as are Historical Societies. We have averaged an annual per capita and per county income of $7,000. John used REAP money to fund the Green Pine Wildlife Area and Coyote Canyon Wildlife Area. Joel and Mary Erickson were granted REAP money in '89 or '90 to restore the Banta house. We used REAP funds to formalize the purchase of the Patterson property.

Part of the intended purpose of these funds was to acquire more public land. Iowa has less than 1% of public held land, probably the smallest percent of any state in the nation. This includes road right of way. The objection to increasing public land is that then it is taken off the tax roles. I've been pigeon-holing our allotment with the intent of developing an Environment Education Center. That is our top priority.

REAP funds are also obtained through competitive grants that can be used for the development of recreation, but we face state-wide competition for funds. REAP money was used for Three-mile Lake in Union County. I hoped to use some of those funds for a little RV (recreational vehicle) park. We have the advantage now of being able to use REAP as matching funds for a Pillars grant.

There are so many facets to my job that I feel overwhelmed at times, but I consider myself fortunate to have a job that suits my education, experience, and location. My roots go very deep in Clarke County. I was born in Dr. Stroy's hospital on Fillmore Street in Osceola, to Eugene and Alberta Foland. I have one sister, Illa. During my first eight years, our parents farmed in Decatur County, on the county line north of Grand River, south of Hopeville. When I was in second grade, we moved to Arizona and Dad worked on road construction. We were there four or five years while Dad's job took him all over the state. Wherever Dad worked, we lived. During that time we lived on two different Indian reservations, which gave me the knowledge of what it is like to be a minority. One was the Hualapai reservation near Kingman, the other was near the town of Globe.

We moved back to Iowa in 1959, and our parents raised turkeys. I finished seventh grade in the rural school, Doyle #7, south of Hopeville. I had a rich childhood! Our cousins were the same age as my sister and me, and we were playmates - one big, happy bunch. We devised our own games. It seems to me that we had more fun creating our own than we would have had participating in an organized game complete with uniforms and a must-win attitude. Looking back, I realize that some of our fun was dangerous, but luckily we had no major accidents. I am so delighted that Illa and her husband, Keith Carson's, four grandsons, the two oldest nine and five, are outdoor boys who go fishing and hunting.

The Army has its own morale support activities and recreational centers for the enlisted personnel and their families. We were kind of like the USO except we were located on base. We had movie nights, Bingo every Friday night. There were musical instruments that could be signed out, a sound-proof room where they could be played, pool and ping pong tables, and a comfortable seating area with reading materials. There were program activities every day with barbecues, pool, ping pong, card tournaments, and fashion shows. I was one of two women on base, but ladies from other bases came to participate. We made toys for orphanages out of tin cans and boxes. We made snowmen out of boxes and cotton balls. The G.I.s were willing to do anything.

My first Christmas away from home was one of the best I ever had because a young serviceman came into the lounge area, where we had a Christmas tree set up. This was Christmas Eve and he brought his packages, which he began to open. I said, "You can't do that. It isn't Christmas." His reply was that he had duty and wanted to open the packages "here where it feels like home." So we all sat around and helped him open the packages he had received from home. It was such a rewarding experience! It was so great because we were able to do something for somebody else. We bought puzzles and games, wrapped them and put them under the tree, so the fellows would have a package to unwrap. They knew they couldn't keep them. They would be left at the center, but the fellows had a package to open. They seemed to enjoy it. After all, they were 18 and 19 years old and just big kids.

When my present position opened up, my mother encouraged me to apply. She knew John Klein and called me to say, "Why don't you try?" I didn't think I would qualify, but her answer to that was, "How do you know if you don't try?" So I tried. After all, recreation was involved and that had been a focal point of my work with a government entity for years. During my interview, the board asked, "Where do you want to be in ten years?" I was honest about it. I wanted to come home. I love traveling but being overseas increases appreciation for home. In my opinion there is no place like the Midwest, specifically Clarke County, Iowa, where neighbors are compassionate and caring. I wanted to be close to my family, including Illa and Keith and their children. Illa has worked for Farmer's Home Administration for over 20 years. Keith is an electrician with Baker Electric. I have two nephews - Brian is the court liaison and assistant wrestling coach for the school in Decatur county, and Matthew is a computer programmer with Des Moines Water Works. I've not had children so I lay claim to theirs.

My answer to the board's question was that in ten years I wanted to be right here, doing the same job. That actually might have given me a foot in the door. Most of the applicants were young, just out of college, and probably considered a job like this the first rung on the ladder because it is not a high paying position. But my looking at staying long term, and not for how to better myself, was probably one of the factors in my favor. I love the area and I love my job, and I have my sights set on nowhere else. There is much potential here.

A part of the job is public programs and environmental education. John initiated the Hopeville annual music festival. It was 25 years old in 2003. When the fairgrounds closed, we had no place to have the Spring Garden show, which had been held three years in a row. Now that new fairgrounds are being developed, it can continue. This year was the seventh annual Halloween Wild Walk. Attendance has grown and grown. In spite of the fact that we compete with Trick or Treat night and various Halloween parties, this year over 500 attended. We had 75 volunteers, who were an essential part. We can offer another opportunity for volunteers. The flower beds at East Lake Park desperately need to be dug out and replanted, and our present staff simply does not have time to do it.

We have some overnight campers and hope to develop better camping facilities. For group camping, we can accommodate only three or four campers. And our hopes include the entire county. We have four camper pads at Hopeville with water and electric hookups, attractive to hunters and for family reunions. Liberty Park wants to develop camper accommodations. All of this involves development and maintenance, and working on budgeting is scary.

Our long-term sights are on Coyote Canyon Reservoir. The Osceola Water Department, SIRWA (Southern Iowa Rural Water Association), RC& D (Resource Conservation and Development) are working on it and we also expect to have an active part if and when it ever comes into being. It would result in a recreational facility, and a 600 acre lake that would be a desperately needed supplemental water supply to West Lake. This is a project far bigger than any one of our groups could do alone. It will require state and federal grant money mounting into the millions. The groups involved in the development are talking with areas that have done this but it remains a future hope. With state budget cuts and devaluation of farm land, there is a little doom and gloom regarding the conservation program. All of this makes my job challenging, creative, and exciting.