Kenny Slocum is the naturalist and natural resource manager for the Clayton County Conservation Board.

The first time I had an opportunity to write for Bleeding Heartland, I wrote about one of my favorite places. Bloody Run County Park, outside of Marquette, sparked my interest in plants years ago when I began to find a litany of unique native plants, stuff that I’d mostly consider “meat-and-potatoes” kind of species now.

Yet every year, it seems, I get the pleasure of adding a new species to my digital herbarium. Some of them, the butterfly milkweed (Asclepias tuberosa) and round-headed bush clover (Lespedeza capitata) and rough blazing star (Liatris aspera), in and of themselves, might not make the typical prairie-stomper excited, but it’s a thrill for me to see them in context.

Kenny Slocum is the naturalist and natural resource manager for the Clayton County Conservation Board. This piece was first published on Clayton County Conservation’s website.

RAGBRAI celebrated it’s 50th ride this year, and once more I got to enjoy just a snippet of the mayhem when I shuttled some friends to Iowa’s west coast before returning their vehicle to the finish line.

I must admit I did feel a slight pang of FOMO (fear of missing out) when I watched the massive herd of cyclists depart from Sioux City. I got myself a decent bike this spring but I wasn’t quite up to the task of riding all 500+ miles across the state just yet. Plus, I’d thoroughly enjoyed last year’s KAGPAI and wanted to do it again with a little more time.

Come Sunday morning, all the bikes were on the road and I was ready to start my own adventure. I wanted to get a little mileage under my belt, and give the dew a little time to dissipate, so I made my first stop about an hour down the road at Prescott prairie in Cherokee county. Right away, the prairie magic began.

Kenny Slocum is the naturalist and natural resource manager for the Clayton County Conservation Board.

Lupine and I have a complex relationship. Despite the fact that some variants are indigenous to Iowa, I had to leave home to learn to recognize it.

After college, I moved to Western Montana where I first became acquainted with the genus. Following my term with the Montana Conservation Corps, I bounced up and down the Rocky Mountains, the Black Hills, the Colorado Plateau… Everywhere I went, lupine was there to greet me. Always a crowd-pleaser, a colony of lupine on a hillside brings an incredible splash of color to the summer meadow wherever the geography.

As with so many other plants, it took me a long time to realize I didn’t have to leave Iowa to find it. I would have needed to take a road trip out of my native Scott County, though. Especially in search of the true Iowan lupine.

Kenny Slocum is the naturalist and natural resource manager for the Clayton County Conservation Board.

The Motor Mill historic site, just southwest of Elkader, Iowa on the Turkey River has a deep history. Today, visitors come mostly to see the six-story limestone grist mill and ghost town, abandoned after wheat crops failed in the 19th century. 

Motor Mill, circa 1915

Kenny Slocum is the naturalist and natural resource manager for the Clayton County Conservation Board. -promoted by Laura Belin

Bloody Run County Park already had a lot going for it when I began working for the Clayton County Conservation Board in 2015. The unassuming 135-acre park outside of Marquette, Iowa has held a special place in the hearts of trout fishermen for decades.

Bloody Run Creek, for which the park is named, is one of Iowa’s few official Outstanding Waters, an Iowa Department of Natural Resources designation reserved for water bodies with exceptionally high quality. The name conjures up evocative imagery of battles won and lost in ages past. Indeed, local folklore offers an array of colorful etymologies and, fact-based or not, they speak to the rugged valley’s longstanding appreciation and respect from the people who know it best.

Unfortunately, it is now ground zero for a modern battle between industrial agriculture and environmentalists.