Monona County Conservation Board

06/06/2026

Thank you to everyone who came out to our first annual Cops and Bobbers event at Peters Park! We appreciate Monona County Sheriff's Office, Mapleton Police Department, and the Iowa Department of Natural Resources for their help in running the event. Lots of fish were caught!

06/05/2026

Looking for a fun activity this summer? Come out to Gray's Landing and play our NEW disc golf course!! This 9 hole course loops around the park and has holes designed for all types of skill levels. Whether you want to make it a day trip or something more to do while camping in the park, come give it a try!

06/05/2026

Reminder: Come join MCCB staff, your Monona County Sheriff's Office Deputies, and your local IA DNR Conservation Officer at Peter's Park tomorrow, Saturday June 6th, for a Cops and Bobbers event from 10AM-Noon to celebrate the annual Free Fishing Weekend! Tomorrow's weather looks perfect, temps in the upper 80s and only a slight breeze. Participants should bring water and sun protection.

All Iowa residents are able to fish for free this weekend, beginning today June 5th and ending Sunday June 7th. Fishing and Hunting licenses are very important for raising funds for important conservation work in the state, this weekend's goal is to allow residents to try fishing without worrying about license fees and then hopefully they get "hooked" on fishing and will want to continue and support conservation work in Iowa by purchasing a fishing license.

We will have a drawing at noon for participating children to win prizes and also will have giveaway materials to send home with participating children, while supplies last.
All equipment and bait will be provided. Parents/Guardians are expected to accompany children 12 and under, though it is recommended they stay and enjoy the experience too.

06/05/2026

Join your Monona County Libraries and Monona County Conservation Staff next Thursday at Whiting Woods for the annual night hike! We will have education stations along the hiking trail with fun activities and s'mores at the campground. The fun begins at 8PM, come hang out around the fire and make a smores or two, then we will start heading into the woods for the night hike beginning at 9:15PM!

06/05/2026

Camping Update: Road construction MAY be taking place today on the road leading in to Peter's Park from Rodney as the road crews work on finishing the new surface for us.

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05/21/2026

Camping Update for Memorial Weekend: Looking like a fairly enjoyable weekend to be camping, a chance of rain on Friday but Saturday, Sunday, and Monday all look rain free and in the 70s and 80s.

Peter's Park has roughly 20 sites available, Gray's Landing has 2 sites available as of this morning, Huff-Warner site availability is unknown currently, Gray's Landing well is operational now.

Reminder to park visitors: Help us keep our parks safe for everyone by observing the 5 mph speed limit and watching out for children. Swimming is only allowed at parks with a designated swim beach such as Peter's and Oldham's Parks. Swimmers are required to stay within the swim buoys and no vessels (including kayaks and SUPs) are allowed inside the swim areas. No pets are allowed on the swim beaches and no fishing is to occur in the swim area. No glass bottles are allowed on the beaches. Please help us keep the parks safe and enjoyable for all by following these and our other park rules.

We hope everyone has a great weekend and thank you for camping with us!

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05/14/2026

Are you an Iowa teacher looking to earn some continuing education credits through the AEA? Come to the Loess Hills Prairie Seminar May 29th-31st to earn 1 credit hour/15 instructor led hours.

Attending the Loess Hills Prairie Seminar is worth one unit of teacher continuing education through the AEA. Please click the link below to log in to the AEA portal.
PLEASE NOTE: If you don't already have an account, you will need to create one if you wish to earn license renewal credit. If you aren't a teacher or associated with a school district, then you should create an account as a Pay Customer. You will be able to register the day after you create the account.

Loess Hills Prairie Seminar - NWAEA education session id=56869
Approved for 1 credit hour/15 instructor led hours
Link for educators to register for the course with AEA: https://nwaea.escworks.com/catalog/session.aspx?session_id=56869

Registration for the Loess Hills Prairie Seminar is optional but helps keep you up to date on our event as the date get's closer. Registration for the seminar and additional information on what to expect can be found under the FAQs tab at https://www.loesshillsprairieseminar.com/

The Loess Hills Prairie Seminar is a free annual event. This event is a weekend event that focuses on the outdoors and conservationism. There are sessions taught by collegiate professors and local experts. Free camping is available at the event site.

05/14/2026

The 50th annual Loess Hills Prairie Seminar is rapidly approaching (May 29th -May 31st) and if you like the types of programs we offer, this is an entire weekend of similar programs that is free to the public to come and enjoy. This event is organized and supported primarily by MCCB, with our Naturalist Tyler Ruge planning the event out to make sure it appeals to as many people as possible.

The seminar is a free come and go event, meaning you can find programs on the schedule on our website to attend that interest you and you only need to attend those programs, not the whole weekend if you don't want to, though we recommend attending as much as possible. The seminar has some incredible people involved, many of whom are involved in the professional side of natural resources education or management, making this a fantastic opportunity for networking with like minded individuals.

Opportunities exist to order catered meals for the seminar, saving some of the headache of finding food on the prairie. Those meal orders close Monday May 18th at midnight, so don't delay, order today! Catered meals are optional, guests are welcome to pack a lunch or make use of the fire rings at the campsite, though there are only a few of those.

More details for attending, including tips for first time guests, and the link to meals and our merch store are available at https://www.loesshillsprairieseminar.com/

Any other questions can be directed to Tyler at [email protected] or 712-433-2400

The Loess Hills Prairie Seminar is a free annual event. This event is a weekend event that focuses on the outdoors and conservationism. There are sessions taught by collegiate professors and local experts. Free camping is available at the event site.

05/07/2026

Reminder: We have a meeting at the Monona County Conservation Board office in Onawa today at 7PM where parents and youth interested in the 4H Safety and Education in Shooting Sports can come and discuss the program with MCCB Naturalist and 4H SESS Coach Tyler Ruge and Monona County Extension County Youth Coordinator Haley Wachter. We are working to develop a shotgun group at the request of some of our club members and their parents, but are happy to answer questions to the other disciplines offered through the SESS program.

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05/07/2026

The 3D archery course at Whiting Woods is out and ready for the season, so take advantage of the awesome weather we've been having and run the course!