Stephens State Forest

State forest in Iowa, United States

Stephens State Forest is a state forest located in Lucas, Clarke, Monroe, Appanoose and Davis Counties in Iowa.^[1] Stephens State Forest is 15,500 acres and split into 7 separate locations (referred to as Units) that collectively make up the largest state forest in Iowa.^[2]

History

Stephen's State Forest was established in the 1930s by the Civilian Conservation Corp (CCC) through an effort to expand hardwood and conifer populations in the area. In the 1950s, the CCC sold the land to the state of Iowa and the forest was converted into a recreational property. The 7 separate parcels of land that make up Stephens State Forest are referred to as the Lucas, Whitebreast, Woodburn, Cedar Creek, Chariton, Thousand Acres, and Unionville Units.^[2]

In 1951, the state forest was named after T. C. Stephens, a professor of biology at Morningside College, ornithologist, and conservationist.^[3] Prior to this, the collective units of land were referred to as the Lucas-Monroe Forest Area.^[2]

In 2008, Stephens State Forest was designated as a Bird Conservation Area (BCA) and the Thousand Acres BCA was designated in 2014.^[2]

Ecology

Stephens State Forest consists of tallgrass prairie association, upland hardwood association, bottomland hardwood association, and their respective transition zones. Due to the CCC planting non-native trees in the 1930s. the soil is predominantly made up of forest vegetation.^[2]

Flora

Tallgrass Prairie:^[2]
- Andropogon gerardi (Big bluestem)
- Panicum virgatum (Switch grass)
- Sorghastrum nutans (Indian grass)
- Spartina pectinata (Prairie cordgrass)
- Echinacea purpurea (Purple coneflower)
- Lespedeza capitata (Round headed bush clover)
- Amorpha canescens (Lead plant)
- Pycnanthemum incanum (Mountain mint)
Hardwood Trees:^[2]
- Quercus alba (White oak)
- Quercus rubra (Red oak)
- Quercus velutina (Black oak)
- Quercus macrocarpa (Bur oak)
- Quercus imbricaria (Shingle oak)
- Ulmus rubra (Red elm)
- Ulmus laevis (White elm)
- Populus sect. Aigeiros (Cottonwood)
- Celtis (Hackberry)
- Fraxinus (Ash)
- Acer saccharinum (Silver maple)
- Juglans nigra (Black walnut)
Coniferous and Non-Native Hardwoods:^[2]
- Picea (Spruce)
- Robinia pseudoacacia (Black locust)
- Liriodendron tulipifera (Tulip poplar)

References

^ "Stephens Forest Campground, IA". Iowa State Parks. Retrieved 2021-12-18.
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f ^g ^h "Stephens State Forest, Iowa". www.iowadnr.gov. Retrieved 2021-12-18.
^ "Stephens State Forest | Outdoorsy". www.outdoorsy.com. Retrieved 2021-12-18.

External links

Iowa DNR Stephens State Forest information

Protected areas of Iowa

Federal

National monument	Effigy Mounds
National Historic Site	Herbert Hoover
National Wildlife Refuges	DeSoto Driftless Area Neal Smith Northern Tallgrass Prairie Port Louisa Union Slough Upper Mississippi River

State

State Parks	Ambrose A. Call Backbone Badger Creek Banner Lakes at Summerset Beeds Lake Bellevue Big Creek Black Hawk Brushy Creek Cedar Rock Clear Lake Dolliver Memorial Elk Rock Elinor Bedell Emerson Bay Fairport Fort Defiance Geode George Wyth Memorial Green Valley Gull Point Honey Creek Lacey-Keosauqua Lake Ahquabi Lake Anita Lake Darling Lake Keomah Lake Macbride Lake Manawa Lake of Three Fires Lake Wapello Ledges Lewis and Clark Lower Gar Maquoketa Caves Marble Beach McIntosh Woods Mines of Spain & E.B. Lyons Mini-Wakan Nine Eagles Okamanpedan Palisades-Kepler Pikes Peak Pikes Point Pilot Knob Pillsbury Point Pine Lake Pleasant Creek Prairie Rose Preparation Canyon Red Haw Rice Lake Rock Creek Springbrook Stone Templar Trapper's Bay Twin Lakes Union Grove Viking Lake Volga River Walnut Woods Wapsipinicon Waubonsie Wildcat Den Wilson Island
State Forests	Backbone Barkley Gifford Holst Loess Hills Pilot Mound Shimek Stephens White Pine Hollow Yellow River
State Preserves	A.F. Miller Ames High Prairie Anderson Prairie Behrens Pond and Woodlands Berry Woods Bird Hill Bixby Bluffton Fir Stand Brush Creek Canyon Brushy Creek Cameron Woods Casey's Paha Catfish Creek Cayler Prairie Cedar Bluffs Cedar Hills Sand Prairie Cheever Lake Clay Prairie Claybanks Forest Cold Water Spring Crossman Prairie Decorah Ice Cave Dinesen Prairie Doolittle Prairie Fallen Rock Fish Farm Mounds Five Ridge Prairie Fleming Woods Fort Atkinson Freda Haffner Kettlehole Gitchie Manitou Hanging Bog Hardin City Woodland Hartley Fort Hayden Prairie Hoffman Prairie Indian Bluffs Primitive Area Indian Fish Trap Iowa's State Preserves System Kalsow Kish-Ke-Kosh Prairie Lamson Woods Liska-Stanek Prairie Little Maquoketa Malanaphy Springs Malchow Mounds Manikowski Prairie Mann Wilderness Area Marietta Sand Prairie Mericle Woods Merrill A. Stainbrook Merritt Forest Montauk Mossy Glen Mount Pisgah Cemetery Mount Talbot Nestor Stiles Prairie Ocheyedan Mound Old State Quarry Palisades-Downs Pecan Grove Pellett Woods Pilot Grove Pilot Knob Retz Woods Roberts Creek Rock Creek Island Rock Island Roggman Boreal Slopes Rolling Thunder Prairie Saint James Lutheran Church Savage Woods Searryl's Cave Sheeder Prairie Silver Lake Fen Silvers-Smith Woods Slinde Mounds Starr's Cave Steele Prairie Stinson Prairie Strasser Woods Sylvan Runkel Toolesboro Mounds Turin Loess Hills Turkey River Mounds White Pine Hollow Williams Prairie Wittrock Indian Village Woodland Mounds Woodman Hollow Woodthrush

County

State Parks (Leased)	Bobwhite Cold Springs Crystal Lake Eagle Lake Echo Valley Frank A. Gotch Heery Woods Lake Cornelia Lake Icaria Kearny Margo Frankel Mill Creek Oak Grove Oakland Mills Pammel Sharon Bluffs Spring Lake Swan Lake Three Mile Lake