Family builds a conservation legacy

Kerns property in 1997.

Jim and Jody Kerns’ belief in conservation education is as deeply rooted as the trees that protect the banks along their Volga River property. For almost 10 years, their 22 acres in Clayton County have served as a living classroom for local high schoolers and their own six children.

The Kerns family, which farms 10 miles south of the river near Edgewood in northeast Iowa, is no stranger to conservation. The farm has land in the Conservation Reserve Program (CRP) and the Conservation Security Program. The river property is in CRP, prairie, pasture and managed timber.

But if not for work 10 years ago, the classroom may never have come about. The riverbank was eroding quickly, so Jim and Jody planted trees to keep the bank in place. They worked with the U.S. Department of Agriculture to make the site an open demonstration and with the DNR to spread the word about stabilizing streambanks.

Kerns property in 2007.

When a powerful flood in 1999 wiped out a town three miles to the north and another three miles to the south, the Kernses’ riverbank held steady. “Had that project not been there, most of that (land) would be gone today,” said Jody, who also serves on the State Soil Conservation Committee. “From a soil erosion point, there’s no doubt this was a success.”

Since that time, high school students have recorded improvements in water quality and watched aquatic life and wildlife thrive.

“This property was a perfect learning tool for kids,” said Jody. “We feel if we have the good fortune to have this land entrusted to us, we have the responsibility to do good by the land.”

Maintenance of the tree plantings and other conservation projects has been less of a chore for the Kerns family and more of a bonding opportunity.

“It’s fun to build this legacy for our children with them,” Jody said of projects. “We always have something in the works.”

Before and after photos by Jeff Tisl.

Read more about watershed improvement successes in 2007 (*.pdf)

Learn more about organizing your own watershed improvement project

Future successes: learn about current improvement projects

Read brochures about watershed improvement projects

DNR Contact
Allen Bonini
(515) 281-5107
Allen.Bonini@dnr.iowa.gov