Ribbon cutting
MORAVIA – Lt. Governor Kim Reynolds is helping to launch Honey Creek Resort State Park as “Iowa’s Greenest Resort” at a special event here at 10 a.m. Friday.
The event will give special recognition to the Chris Desjardins Memorial Fund, which provided a generous contribution for renewable energy technologies.
Chris Desjardins, a lifelong employee of Pella Corp., was passionate about renewable energy and had a deep environmental ethic. When he passed away at the age of 47 in 2009, his family decided the best way to honor his memory would be to create a fund for renewable energy projects.
“We are very appreciative the Desjardins family chose Honey Creek Resort State Park for this legacy,” said Chuck Gipp, DNR Director. “Protecting natural resources is a gift that can be appreciated by thousands of visitors to Honey Creek each year.”
The memorial fund established a 10 kW wind turbine, solar thermal heating panels for the resort’s main lodge, solar electricity panels for five cottages, two solar-powered light poles, and an educational kiosk. Funding was still available for solar electricity panels on nature centers at Mines of Spain State Park, Dubuque, and Lewis and Clark State Park, Onawa, along with solar light poles at other parks around the state.
The Iowa Office of Energy Independence (currently the Iowa Economic Development Authority) also helped fund the Honey Creek project as a technology demonstration project using the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act funds under the State Energy Program. Additional funding came from Iowa’s Resource Enhancement and Protection Fund.
Along with honoring the Desjardins family, the June 8 event and ribbon cutting will recognize the numerous green initiatives at Honey Creek Resort State Park. In 2012, the Iowa Department of Natural Resources received LEED certification for the resort’s sustainable design.
Examples of green technologies include: geothermal heating and cooling systems; recycled content in building materials, furnishings and the resort playground; native prairie landscaping, low-flow toilets and showerheads, and much more. The Preserve, an 18-hole championship golf course at the resort, has reduced its chemical use, expanded habitat areas, and implemented numerous water-saving strategies.
The June 8 event will take place from 10 a.m. until noon with a presentation on the resort’s back terrace. The event will include tours of the activity center, lodge, cottages and grounds.
Neighbors help
The Iowa Department of Natural Resources reached out to neighboring states after its walleye egg collections came up short in April.
The Minnesota DNR provided about 19 million walleye fry from several of their hatcheries that had a surplus. North Dakota Game & Fish and U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Garrison Dam Hatchery provided another 5 million walleye fry.
Warmer weather in March and April changed walleye spawning behavior in northwest Iowa’s brood lakes. Only 35 million fry hatched at the Spirit Lake Hatchery, about half of number requested.
“The success of our annual walleye fry stocking is variable year to year but can make up a large portion of a year class if conditions are right,” said Mike Mason, supervisor for fish hatcheries for the Iowa DNR. “Two-inch walleye stockings have been close to target numbers so far from hatcheries at Rathbun and Fairport and we are beginning the harvest at Spirit Lake this week.”
In the fall, additional walleyes measuring 6-8 inches will be stocked from Rathbun and Spirit Lake hatcheries.
(Source: Iowa Department of Natural Resources.)