AJ Taylor3 hours agoLast Updated: April 16, 2021
The Winnebago County Conservation Board will open their two county campgrounds, at Thorpe Park and Dahle Park, on Friday, April 30th! On that day, all utilities will be available and the tables and fire rings will be set out. Both parks also have pit toilets that will be ready for use.
There have been some changes to the camping rates according to Winnebago County Naturalist Lisa Ralls.
Camping is limited at either site to two weeks per stay. According to Ralls, people will be able to pay their camping fees using cash or checks. However, the WCCB has a new option that will make camping at Winnebago County parks more convenient this year.
AJ Taylor6 hours agoLast Updated: April 14, 2021
The Winnebago County Conservation Board will open their two county campgrounds, at Thorpe Park and Dahle Park, on Friday, April 30th! On that day, all utilities will be available and the tables and fire rings will be set out. Both parks also have pit toilets that will be ready for use.
There have been some changes to the camping rates according to Winnebago County Naturalist Lisa Ralls.
Camping is limited at either site to two weeks per stay. According to Ralls, people will be able to pay their camping fees using cash or checks. However, the WCCB has a new option that will make camping at Winnebago County parks more convenient this year.
As the COVID-19 pandemic drove people out of public spaces and into their homes last year, many found an escape in the great outdoors.Â
While the pandemic caused near-universal economic strife as businesses did their best to survive, North Iowaâs outdoor institutions have thrived.Â
In Winnebago County, the numbers were dramatic. Camping, hunting, fishing, etc. Whatever activity people could do in the outdoors, they did a lot more of it in 2020 than any year in recent memory.Â
Eagle Lake State Park in rural Hancock County. LISA GROUETTE - Globe Gazette
According to Winnebago County naturalist Lisa Ralls in her December 2020 column âWelcome to your Outdoors,â Thorpe Park saw campers spend 355 nights in 2020, compared to 195 nights in 2019, an 82 percent bump. At Dahle Park, it was even more dramatic, as total camping nights went from 77 to 279, an increase of 262 percent.Â
th, from 10:00-11:00 AM.
The book that the club will be reading this winter is Aldo Leopold’s
A Sand County Almanac, first published in 1949. Aldo Leopold was born in Iowa in 1887 and was a conservationist, forester, philosopher, educator, writer, and outdoor enthusiast. Leopold became known as the Father of Wildlife Ecology.
The book has introduced countless readers to the outdoors and the harmonies of a well managed ecosystem. The book can found online or at the Conservation Office.
The website is
birdcount.org/participate. You don’t have to be an expert birder; if you are unsure of a particular bird’s identification, you don’t have to include it in the count. However there is an app called Merlin Bird ID app that you can use to help you identify what’s in the backyard or in front of you as you count.
You can make as many observations as you’d like over the 4-day period, and in as many different locations as you’d like. If you’re concerned about double counting, Ralls stated that all you need to do is wait till you have the most of a certain species of bird.