Tama County Conservation’s new logo featuring the trumpeter swan which has been documented nesting at Otter Creek Marsh near Chelsea. The new logo will be slowly phased in over time. IMAGE COURTESY OF TAMA COUNTY CONSERVATION

TOLEDO — The Tama Co. Board of Conservation voted last Wednesday night to begin phasing in a new logo featuring a black and white graphic of a trumpeter swan – a native species once absent from Iowa altogether but thanks to restoration efforts including at Otter Creek Marsh near Chelsea, now breeds in many parts of the state.

The new logo will eventually replace the familiar green and yellow arrowhead design that also includes images of a tent, fishing poles, and canoe.

Ahead of the vote which passed 3-0 (John Keenan was absent; chair Nathan Wrage did not vote) during the regular June meeting, board members asked director Stephen Mayne for an explanation regarding the logo change.

“The current logo … is kind of out of date with the standards of other conservation boards right now within the state of Iowa,” Mayne said.

As part of the discussion, Linn County Conservation’s 2020 decision to change the name of Squaw Creek Park to Wanatee Park was briefly touched upon.

The old Tama County Conservation logo featuring an arrowhead and camping symbols. Conservation plans to slowly transition away from the design following a recent board vote. IMAGE COURTESY OF TAMA COUNTY CONSERVATION

The Linn County park was renamed in memory of Jean Adeline Morgan Wanatee who was born in 1910 on the Meskwaki Indian Settlement. During her lifetime, she was an advocate at both the state and national levels for women’s rights.

Roughly a year after the park’s name change, Squaw Creek which runs through the park was also changed to Wanatee Creek.

Mayne also briefly alluded to the Meskwaki Nation’s 2021 letter to 66 K-12 Iowa schools asking them to retire their Native-themed mascots.

During the discussion, board member Nathan Wrage questioned why change to the trumpeter swan specifically.

“I think that’s something we need to capitalize on,” Mayne said in reference to the fact trumpeter swans are still relatively uncommon nesters in Iowa. He cited Tama County as one of a handful of places where the species has naturally been migrating to – and subsequently breeding – since reintroduction efforts formally began in 1993.

According to the Iowa DNR, Otter Creek Marsh was one of the original study areas in the early days of the swan’s reintroduction efforts. Trumpeter swans have been successfully nesting at the marsh for years now, but not without difficulty.

An article from October of 2019 by the Iowa DNR states that, “Of all the positive happenings at Otter Creek Marsh, there is an unfortunate history of trumpeters being killed here.”

The press release goes on to describe how back in 2004, two swans were confirmed killed, while one was suspected killed. And in 2018, two more swans were killed.

Drawing more awareness to the trumpeter swan in Tama County could be accomplished, Mayne alluded, by including the species in the conservation logo.

Ultimately, the board elected to vote in favor of the name change as long as the changeover was “gradual.”

“Is it a good spend?” board member Bryan Wacha posited. “As long as you don’t take everything that we have that has a logo on it – redo all the signage all at once. … You use what you have until that’s gone or wore out. You guys are constantly replacing signs at all the satellite locations that get shot. … I think you start here, obviously, if you’re going to do something.”

Mayne then brought up the lake restoration, explaining that many new signs will need to be ordered and erected in the coming weeks for placement in and around Otter Creek Lake & Park.

“I’m sorry I just don’t go along with that,” board member Carolyn Adolphs said at one point in reference to any decision to rebrand purely for political reasons. “But I can see, we don’t want to get caught here.”

“When given the opportunity to pick your battles – pick your battle. This isn’t one of them. This isn’t one you want to fight,” board member Steve Kenkel, a retired Toledo attorney, said.

The motion was made to phase in the new logo featuring the trumpeter swan over time by Wacha and seconded by Kenkel. Adolphs, Kenkel, and Wacha approved the measure unanimously.

Lake restoration update

Mayne told the board Otter Creek Lake’s dam is now closed and the lake is slowly refilling with water. He said contractors had finished all the dirt work in the park, and the roadways would be cleaned soon. Rachel Construction should be wrapping up and exiting, Mayne said, in the next two to three weeks, assuming the weather cooperates.

A question was raised by a board member about fishing regulations in the newly-restored lakes and ponds, to which Mayne replied that part of the contract with the Iowa DNR states that the keeping of any fish is not allowed until spring of 2024. Catch and release must be practiced in the meantime.

Wrage asked if it would be possible to ban the use of minnows as bait for two to three years due to past problems with invasive species taking hold in Otter Creek Lake.

“We don’t need to ruin a freshly restored fishery with somebody else’s backyard biology,” Wrage said.

Mayne said he would check on the possibility of banning certain types of bait in the short term.

Other business

-A motion was approved to purchase a log splitter in order to begin processing the many dead ash trees present at both Otter Creek Park and T.F. Clark Park. Wood from the trees would then be sold in firewood bundles to campers and others who use the parks. The purchase was previously budgeted for at $3,000.

-Discussion took place during the meeting regarding the as yet unfinished cement work in the new boat house/shop at Otter Creek Park. The contractor that built the structure last year has effectively been fired due to a large cost overrun, Mayne said. The quote for the concrete work was prepaid at $6,600. When contacted recently about the unfinished work, the contractor asked for an additional $7,500 to finish. The project came in $27,000 under budget. A motion was approved to contract with JRF Concrete in Tama for the concrete work at $7,284.27. Mayne indicated he would work on another quote for a retaining wall to be built behind the structure.

-The board approved a quote for dumpster services with K&M Sanitation. Conservation will add three dumpsters to Otter Creek Lake & Park during the summer season – one at the shop, and one each at the north and south campgrounds. The total price tag for the season is $780. This decision will cut down drastically on the amount of time seasonal employees spend emptying individual trash barrels throughout the park. Seasonals will now have about 20 barrels to empty instead of 70.

Correction, 30 June 2023: This article has been updated to reflect that the Tama County Board of Conservation motion to begin phasing in the new conservation logo passed 3-0, not 4-0. Board chair Nathan Wrage did not vote. Tama-Grundy Publishing regrets the error.