Mormann looks back on 10 years with Conservation

     There are 99 county conservation directors throughout the State of Iowa.

   “(Conservation) director turnover has been huge in the last several years,” noted Jones County Conservation Director Brad Mormann. “People are aging out, folks who have been doing this for 20 to 30 years.”

   September marked Mormann’s 10-year anniversary with Jones County Conservation.

   “Time flies!” he said of hitting the milestone anniversary. “I forgot it had been 10 years.”

   Mormann said the past decade working in Jones County “has been great.”

   Mormann is originally from the Worthington area, so relocating to Jones County meant he’d be closer to family and friends.

   He attended Iowa State University for his undergraduate degree, but then moved to Missouri where he earned his master’s at Missouri State University.

   While in Missouri, Mormann worked for a private wildlife management firm, and was a private land conservationist.

   “The natural resource work I do with this job, was work I did in the past,” he said. “This was a natural fit, to work with people to make great things happen.”

   While Mormann had the background in nature conservation, it was the environmental aspect of his current job that was all new to him. He said creating and building trails has been a fun part of his job.

   Conservation maintains the Grant Wood Trail in southern Jones County. Conservation also partnered with the City of Anamosa on the Wapsipinicon Trail.

   “This has been something fun and different and refreshing,” he said. “It’s all about providing quality of life services.”

   Over the past 10 years, Mormann has been fortunate to be a part of so many projects throughout the county. The biggest project that touched the most people is the Central Park Lake Restoration Project that was completed in the summer of 2019, an eight-year project that started before Mormann arrived.

   “That was a huge endeavor for this department,” he remarked. “It’s had a huge impact on so many people.”

   In 2020, COVID brought so many people to Central Park. From that moment on, Mormann said the beach and lake have been busy.

   “Larry (Gullett, former Conservation director) started the watershed work,” Mormann credited of the start of the lake project. “My first two months here, we put in four septic systems and I took it to the next phase.”

   Mormann has also been a part of the expanding wildlife areas throughout the county, namely Eby’s Mill, Central Park, North Fork Wildlands, Wapsi Trail, and Hale.

   “We’ve acquired five properties in the last 10 years,” he said.

   In his 10 years here, Jones County Conservation has secured over $4 million in funding for numerous projects, including state and federal grants.

   “The majority of that money is grants,” he said. “That’s money we would not have had if the Conservation Board had not directed me to compete for those grants. They felt these projects were important enough to do.”

   In 2020, people flocked to Central Park to spend time outdoors after being cooped up. But in August of that year, the derecho storm hit southern Jones County, causing an immense amount of damage throughout the park. The clean-up efforts have been ongoing.

   Mormann also had to deal with another disaster, the emerald ash borer. He said Central Park has 3 acres of solid ash trees.

   With two rivers running through the county, Conservation has also worked to improve river access not just for the residents of the county, but the many visitors, too.

   Mormann credits all of the projects associated with Conservation to their public and private partners, such as Twin Rivers Pheasants Forever.

   “Matt McQuillen (a member of Pheasants Forever) has been the one individual who has made the biggest impact,” praised Mormann. “He is forward-thinking and has assisted us in helping to acquire pieces of land we would not otherwise be able to do.”

   Other regional partnerships have included Parks to People (Grant Wood Loop), Whitetails Unlimited, and Ducks Unlimited.

   “The work we do is truly built through partnerships,” credited Mormann. “These groups bring us projects and the capital to make them happen. The amount of time people, volunteers put into these projects is incredible. We’re all working toward the same goal and are passionate about what we do.

   “It’s the people who drive the work that we do and help make it happen,” added Mormann. “We continue to grow Jones County and provide quality of life services to keep people here and for future generations.”

   Mormann also praised the support of the Jones County Supervisors and Conservation Board.

   “They’re willing to improve the recreational opportunities in Jones County, and put the time and money toward these projects. It’s great to work with open-minded people.”

   While a couple of projects remain ongoing, Conservation and Mormann are now working on a master plan for Central Park.

   “Once that is done, it’ll spur us to focus on aspects of the park in different phases while we look for the funding,” he said. “This is all coming from the public, and it’ll take a lot of effort.”