Billows of chalky dust kicked up through the early morning
sunlight, as several cars (including mine) made their way down the loose-graveled
country road. On Saturday, September 22, the first day of autumn this year, we
were all heading toward an appropriate place to mark an equinox, the dedication
of the Ciha Fen Preserve in rural Johnson County, Iowa.
This new conservation site is 80 acres of sand prairie,
wetland and oak savannah, the Ciha Fen being the Crown Jewel. Ciha is the name
of the family who most recently owned the land. A fen (an Old English word meaning
mud or muck) is a rare and special wetland feature created by the actions of ancient
winds, ice and rocks that carved, grinded and fashioned our part of the Midwest
millennia ago. When moving underground
water bubbles up through the dense sandy matrix left by glaciers, large floating vegetative sponges of wonder are formed and a fen is born.
An incredible
array of animal and plant life live here, cool critters I ache to illustrate. Blanding’s
Turtle (“Looks like a ‘gater in the water” said one biologist), the
(non-venomous) eastern hognose snake (with little upturned snouts for digging
in sandy soil) and six-lined race runners (seeking out rooms in rotten log
hotels)- have all been noted. Magnificent, fragile plants are also present
in their season- Great Plains Ladies’ Tresses orchid, rice button aster,
fringed puccoon and mousetail plant. The fen is fringed by a fantastic mixed
canopy of white and black oak and a sand “short grass” prairie
beyond. Invasives linger and alas, prosper too. A team of conservationists are making efforts to thwart them.
Friend and colleague, author/geologist Jean Prior Sandrock
wrote wonderfully clear interpretation of the rather complex water chemistry that makes up the Ciha Fen. Her text is on the permanent marker installed at the
site.
This place is about time. The time it took for the fen to
form. The time it takes for a white oak acorn become a 40 foot high tree. The
time involved in the human effort to change the land. The time we now set aside
to conserve and appreciate this pristine rarity of nature.
Thank you to the Iowa
Natural Heritage Foundation and the Johnson County Conservation Board in helping
to make the Ciha Fen accessible to us. Please visit with a soft step and
reverent eye; the fen will give back a deep sense of well-being and belonging.
And I hope I have TIME to create some illustrations inspired from the place! Meanwhile, here are some photos of the place.
http://www.inhf.org/ciha-fen-preserve.cfm
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| The Ciha Fen of Johnson County, with authenic September Blue sky above. |
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| Friend Jackie takes in the program with the crowd |
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| Each acorn is a thought... |
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| Dappled light and ancient oaks |
http://www.inhf.org/ciha-fen-preserve.cfm
