Iowa City wants park to be designated a state preserve

Iowa City's Ryerson's Woods Park is a nature-lover's park, a place that is full of colorful flowers in early spring rather than children at play.

Its 49 wooded acres on the south side of town are home to more than 200 plant species, including 10 rare or infrequent ones like the bellwort, a drooping yellow flower, said Diana Horton, a botanist and professor emeritus at the University of Iowa.

“It's just a carpet of flowers in the springtime,” she said.

To ensure it stays that way, Horton is spearheading an effort on behalf of the city to get the park designated a biological state preserve.

The Iowa State Preserves Advisory Board is scheduled to vote on Iowa City's request at its July 22 meeting in Ames. If approved, the city would then have to dedicate the park as a preserve and the governor would have to OK the plan.

The state preserves system is meant to identify, protect and maintain certain natural areas, said Diane Ford, the Iowa Department of Natural Resources' deputy division administrator for conservation and recreation and a member of the advisory board.

“You can view it as an outdoor museum of significant gems throughout the state,” she said.

The board, which includes six other members appointed by the governor, looks for unique areas to safeguard, she said. It's the highest form of protection the state offers a natural area and limits development and usage, she said. For example, most preserves allow hiking and photography, and some are open to hunting and fishing, but few have trails, she said.

There are 94 state preserves in Iowa, including three in Johnson County and four in Linn County, Ford said.

Mike Moran, Iowa City's director of parks and recreation, said he wants to add Ryerson's Woods Park to the list to create awareness and to protect the park's natural character.

A simple trail, shelter and some picnic tables have been the only amenities of any significance added to the park, which is south of the Johnson County Fairgrounds, near where Highway 218 and Oakcrest

Hill Road meet .  Moran said no further development will occur.

Having it designated a state preserve will ensure that philosophy continues into the future. If, for example, there's interest at some point in realigning Highway 218, the road would have to steer clear of Ryerson's Woods, he said.

In his letter to the Iowa State Preserves Advisory Board, Moran cites the large number of plants and the historic woodland setting of the park as reasons for it to be protected.

Horton said Ryerson's Woods has been used for years by UI botanists to teach students about woodlands and show them what one looked like before development. In fact, her research has led her to conclude that the park undoubtedly is a remnant of the natural habitat that was found in this part of Iowa before settlers came.

Horton has studied the park's vegetation since 2009 with honors student Sophia Krajewski

. Their work was the impetus for the city's request for the state preserve designation.

If the park becomes a state preserve, it would remain owned by the city.