As soon as the ink dried on the paperwork signaling Iron Creek Preserve was officially on the books, Legacy’s stewardship team eagerly took the reins from the land acquisition team.

A volunteer removes debris from the old cabin site during a workday

Behind the scenes, our Preserve Stewardship Manager has been preparing years for this moment. With an exhaustive multi-year plan in hand, complete with a detailed list of short-term opening-related tasks, staff is diligently working on checking off the most immediate needs to ensure Iron Creek is accessible and safe when we open it to visitors.

“We cannot wait to welcome the public to Iron Creek Preserve soon,” Legacy Land Conservancy Preserve Stewardship Manager Kyler Moran said. “But our priority remains ensuring it is welcoming and has clear guidelines in place so that we can protect the natural areas as well as the safety of the public while on the property.”

The land on Iron Creek has been well taken care of thanks to stewardship-minded donors Sybil and Maan, however, protecting, preparing, and maintaining a property for public use is still an enormous undertaking. Unbeknown to many, there is actually quite a bit of work to do before ‘opening’ a new preserve to the public.

With an eye on spring 2025 and thanks to a grant from the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation, Legacy is tackling specific work like trail prep which will impact signage design this winter and their installation next spring, and focusing on debris clean up within certain portions of the preserve.

AmeriCorps member Annika Moran installs a boundary stake along the Preserve border

Staff is concentrating on maintaining, expanding, and documenting existing trails on the property. They’ve already put in hundreds of hours maintaining existing trails and improving the ecology of the preserve’s fen through the removal of invasive species like reed canary grass, purple loosestrife, and autumn olive. Trail improvements are still underway, and we anticipate the final trail system to exceed a mile in length by opening. Once completed, detailed maps will be produced and design of kiosk and wayfinding signs, including boot brush stations will get underway.

This summer staff also completed the final disposal of materials from the deconstruction of the farm house, ground tiles, and surrounding debris. And with the help of volunteers over multiple workdays, the team removed invasive species among important restoration areas and hauled away the remains of other fallen structures like the old cabin in the interior of the preserve.

Another more complicated piece to the opening puzzle has been addressing safety needs at the newly designated trailhead. Legacy has contracted a local engineering firm to inspect the current pedestrian footbridge and provide bid packets for construction of a new one, as well as delineate a low-impact parking area. The product of this work is expected in October and will inform the budget and next steps.

Existing trail within the preserve

There are a lot of moving pieces to the Iron Creek Preserve opening, so it’s easy to see why we don’t have an exact opening date set yet. However, one by one, we’re checking things off our list and we’re doing all we can to ensure that when we do open Iron Creek to visitors, it is accessible and safe. We are very grateful for all our partners and volunteers who are helping us along the way, and we are so excited to share this unique and beautiful preserve with our community as soon as we can!

PS – You can help us get one step closer to opening day! Volunteer for an upcoming workday. We have two scheduled in September. Join us Wednesday, September 25th from 3pm-5pm or Saturday, September 28th from 10am-12pm. For details and more volunteer opportunities, check out www.legacylandconservancy.org/events