Iowa-Cedar Rivers Basin Study, Iowa and Minnesota: Report on Environmental Corridors

Excerpts from the report: The Iowa-Cedar-Rivers Basin drains 12,971 square miles. Ninety-two percent of the Basin is in Iowa and includes about 23 percent of the land area in the state. The remaining 8 percent is in Minnesota. The Basin is about 250 miles long, and the average width is 60 miles. The purpose of this report is to provide resource information for land use decisions within the Iowa-Cedar Rivers Basin. The report is directed to local, county and state governments, private landowners and others in land use decision making positions. This is a special report prepared as a supplement to the USDA Main Report of the Iowa-Cedar Rivers Basin Study. Environmental corridors generally encompass the best remaining elements of the natural resource base. This resource base includes streams and lakes with associated shorelines and floodplains, wetlands, wildlife habitats, unique geologic formations and forest land. The best remaining sites for park and "open space" uses lie within the environmental corridors. Emphasis is placed on environmental corridors because they can provide multiple benefits for wildlife habitat, recreation areas and forestry in a developed or undeveloped state. The environmental corridor study evolved through evaluation the planning objectives of the Iowa Conservation Commission, Minnesota Department of Natural Resources, lowa-Cedar River Conservancy District, involved Regional Planning Commissions, Iowa Department of Agriculture, Iowa Natural Resources Council and other sponsors and interested groups.