Recent News
Buy your 2012 Friends of Hickory Hill Park Calendar today! Proceeds help support conservation and improvement projects in the park.
The photos in the calendar, which are donated to the project by area photographers, capture the amazing natural setting that exists within Hickory Hill Park — woodlands, fields, waterways, and a variety of wildlife — throughout each season.
Calendars are now available for sale for $10 each at the Robert A. Lee Recreation Center and the following Iowa City businesses: Ace Hardware on North Dodge, Active Endeavors, the East Side Artists Show (scheduled December 9-11 at the Masonic Temple), Eble Music, Fin and Feather, Iowa Book and Supply, New Pioneer Co-op, Prairie Lights Bookstore, and Russ’ Northside Service.
In 2010 and 2011, FHHP provided more than 2,000 hours of volunteer work in the park, which culminated this year with the first-ever controlled burn in the woodland area. The calendar is our principal fundraising tool.
KCRG News was at Hickory Hill Park on Saturday October 29th covering the woodland burn.
From their news article:
IOWA CITY, Iowa - Helping Mother Nature take back a woodland area means lighting parts of it on fire. That's what about a dozen people did Saturday at Hickory Hills Park in Iowa City. Two invading plant species: honeysuckle and garlic mustard are killing the native plants in the forest. Saturday, professionals and volunteers worked to burn a concentrated portion of those plants for the success of others.
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
CONTACT: FRIENDS OF HICKORY HILL PARK
Iowa City, Iowa
C.J. Voci: 400‐4919
e‐mail: cjvoci@gmail.com
FIRE RETURNS TO HICKORY HILL PARK
(Iowa City, IA) After two years of site preparation, the Friends of Hickory Hill Park (FHHP) will conduct its first prescribed woodland burn on Saturday, October 29 in an area just to the northeast of the Bloomington Street entrance to the park (view full press release with map). The burn will be conducted under the direction of Liz Maas and a professional land restoration crew from Transition Ecology.
Volunteers are welcome! Register online here.
Volunteers will arrive at 9 AM at the Bloomington Street entrance to secure the surrounding area and trails. The controlled fire will begin at 10 AM and will last 4‐5 hours depending on conditions. Site monitoring will last several more hours after the fire is out. Because controlled burns require particular weather conditions (esp. wind speed and direction and humidity), a rain date has been set for Saturday, November 5th. Some of the trails will be closed to ensure the safety of the public. The burn will be a slow and low controlled fire that will not be visible from other areas of the park, through it will generate smoke.
FHHP has conducted prescribed burns in the grassland areas of the park for several years. All planning and preparation for the woodland burn has been done under the direction of land restoration professionals and the project is coordinated with Iowa City Parks Department and the Iowa City Fire Department. FHHP has secured a permit from the IC Fire Department. Prescribed woodland fires are a natural and beneficial element in the development of a healthy and thriving woodland. A prescribed burn has neither the heat nor intensity of wild forest fire and will not harm native herbaceous plants or mature trees but will help to control some invasive species that threaten the park. Fire provides additional benefits by stimulating native seeds in the ground to germinate, opening up space for sunlight, and replacing nutrients in the soil. This leads to more plant diversity, which increases the health of the forest as animal habitat.
If you like to recreate in the park, consider joining us for some physical labor that improves Hickory Hill Park trails and ecosystems. Anyone is welcome to volunteer!
The Fall 2011 volunteer work days have officially been announced, and you can register now online. We have scheduled 9 sessions that include activities such as: trail building, brush clearing, bridge building, woodland burn/prep and invasive species removal.
Visit our volunteer page for more details about each work session.
Submit your photos of the park for the 2012 Friends of Hickory Hill Park Calendar. The deadline for 2012 calendar submissions is August 15*.
There are two ways to submit:
- Email digital submissions to info@hickoryhillpark.org.
- Mail prints (5x7 or smaller) and CD's to Sarah Walz, 1813 Morningside Dr, Iowa City, IA 52245
Please note:
- We will not return prints or CDs unless requested.
- All photos must be taken in Hickory Hill Park.
- Please provide your name, address, phone number and email with your submission (label each print or disk)
- Limit: 15 photos per entrant
*We will now begin accepting photos on a rolling basis to be used in future calendars. So submit anytime of the year!
Rights Reserved.