Gillette Grove, Iowa - The recently acquired 425-acre Callahan Tract in southern Clay County, with its two plus miles of the Little Sioux River and roughly 30 acres of never been plowed prairie, was a perfect fit for the Little Sioux Wildlife Area.
The Iowa Department of Natural Resources (DNR) acquired the property from the Iowa Natural Heritage Foundation in 2023, who had purchased it from Tim Callahan.
“It’s been a known remnant prairie for 42 years,” said Dusten Paulus, wildlife biologist with the Iowa DNR’s Prairie Lakes Unit Ruthven office.
In 1984, the Daily family, who owned the property at that time, asked the state conservation commission to survey the plant community on the hillside prairie. The survey took place over two visits, three weeks apart and identified nearly 100 different prairie plant species.
“It’s just a mosaic of habitat – oxbows, upland and floodplain timber, steep hills. The hills couldn't be farmed so they hayed it and grazed it. It’s part of one of the largest remaining remnant prairie corridors in the state, which is mostly on private land,” Paulus said.
Work is underway to reclaim and restore the prairie through the Little Sioux Watershed Conservation Partnership, consisting of nearly 20 public and private organizations in the area, led by The Nature Conservancy.
The conservation project at the Callahan Tract has been working to remove the undesirable trees and brush from the prairie, and to use fire to manage the area and get sunlight on the ground.
Prescribed fire was used in 2024, and a large tree and brush removal project was completed this past winter. Paulus is planning to burn the prairie again in early 2027.
“We’re hoping to get the remnant re-inventoried in the summer of 2027, to help monitor the response of the recent management activities,” he said.
On this late May morning, walking on the hillside, the prairie is just beginning to show.
Leadplant, hoary puccoon, little bluestem, white sage, rattlesnake master, prairie drop seed, false indigo, compass plant, prairie violet, prairie phlox, cup plant, round headed bush clover, partridge pea and more. Prairie violet is a host plant necessary to have regal fritillaries and there is a lot of prairie violets in this prairie.
“We will see all the colors of the rainbow in early July,” Paulus said.
While the prairie bloom is a few weeks away, the grassland birds are already here and are filling the air with the calls – dickcissels, meadowlarks and bobolinks, interrupted regularly by crowing rooster pheasants.
Closer to the Little Sioux River is where the timber has a larger presence. The east side has more silver maple, cottonwood and ash – higher up on the west side are bur oaks, bitternut hickory and black walnut.
“We really appreciate the true remnant timbered areas in the Little Sioux corridor and try to maintain them. Northwest Iowa is known for pheasants and waterfowl, but we have a pretty significant and unique river system here,” he said.
Deer and turkey hunters will call regarding the Little Sioux Wildlife Area, and Callahan Tract in particular, looking for opportunities in the area.
Local farmers help with habitat management which includes converting different parcels from brome or canary grass into diverse reconstructed prairie. One step in that process is to prepare the soil for the prairie reconstruction, and that is done by farming the land through the habitat leases, to eliminate the previous cover type.
The Little Sioux River itself has a high-profile role here – it provides excellent fishing and, soon, will be part of the longest inland water trail in the state – the Inkpaduta Canoe Trail. When completed, the canoe trail will cover more than 200 miles.
Access to the river will be improved over the next few years after a new concrete boat ramp and gravel parking lot is installed. The ramp will be on the east side of the river, just off county road B53/435th Street, north of Gillette Grove.
“The Callahan Tract has a little bit of everything – whether you like to hunt or fish, hike or bird, you can do it here, there’s something for everyone,” Paulus said. “It’s a really cool area with a lot of history.”