Improvements to Cardinal Marsh

CRESCO - Cardinal Marsh Wildlife Management Area currently has two Department of Natural Resources renovation projects underway that will benefit wildlife and public use for many years to come. Cardinal Marsh is located approximately four miles southeast of Cresco and is an 1160 acre mix of prairies, forests, crop fields, wetlands and the Turkey River. 

The first project improves the boat ramp and parking area northwest of the larger wetland. For years the gravel boat ramp had maintenance issues every time a hard rain occurred. 

This has made use and maintenance very difficult and costly at times. This project will fix these issues by replacing the existing gravel access with a concrete ramp. This project will be funded with the Marine Fuel Tax fund. The Marine Fuel Tax fund is an excise tax on boating fuel that is directly used to enhance facilities used by boaters. 

The second improvement project involves the smaller four wetlands that lie east of the large wetland. These wetlands were constructed in the 1980’s. They have provided water clarification and excellent wetland habitat for a large variety of wetland plant and wildlife species. 

However, the condition of these dikes continues to degrade. Current water control structures are undersized for larger rain events. The goal of this project is to reshape and improve the four dikes while replacing the water control structures.  This project will be funded by the Resource Enhancement and Protection (REAP) program.

For ease and cost effectiveness of this construction, summer water levels have been lowered as much as possible in these wetlands. 

The completion of the boat ramp and parking is expected to be the end of July or so. 

The four wetlands project may not be completed until late summer. Fall water depths will be dependent on appropriate dike vegetation for erosion control and sufficient water flows into the system. 

Users will need to check fall water levels prior to recreation outings. Any temporary low water conditions will be outweighed by better long term management improvements. 

Submitted by Terry Haindfield, Iowa DNR Wildlife Biologist