Montgomery County Conservation

08/13/2026

Our homeschool program calendar for the 2026/2027 school year is out! This year we are asking participants to register ahead of time so we can best plan our time and prepare for our guests. You can register online for our free programs here https://montgomeryccb.org/series/monthly-homeschool-program/

08/12/2026

Get crafty with us! Create a mini, 12" by 12" barn quilt! All tiles will come with a peel and paint stencil in place. We have several color schemes to choose from or pick whatever colors you’d like. There are 9 quilt patterns to choose from.

📅 Thursday, October 22nd, 2026

⏰5:00 PM to 7:00 PM

📍Anderson Conservation Area (2059 190th Street, Red Oak, IA 51566)

💵 $30.00 per person

👨‍👩‍👧All ages are welcome to attend this event.

*** We usually have a grazing table set out for these types of events! Bring a side to share if you’d like.

Click here to register https://montgomeryccb.org/calendar/wild-women-in-the-woods-mini-barn-quilts/

08/12/2026

Presentation highlight for our retreat on September 18th-20th!

BOOK BINDING 📚
Join our naturalist, Cassandra Barbosa, for a lesson on creating books and journals. Each participant will create their own hard cover, leather journal and learn techniques for beautifying their journals. We will cover how you can rebind books, too!

Get signed up today! https://montgomeryccb.org/calendar/wild-women-in-the-woods-wellness-retreat/

08/12/2026

Through no fault of our own, the Iowa Young Birders program scheduled for this Saturday has been canceled. The representative cannot make it down.

If you are interested in participating in an Iowa Young Birders program, check out https://www.iowayoungbirders.org/ and see what's available to attend.

SPECIAL NOTICE FOR MEMBERS:  If you are a past or current youth or adult member of Iowa Young Birders, your membership information should be accessible by logging in with the email address that was used to become a member, OR with your Facebook or Google account.  If you log in with your email add...

08/11/2026

Our owls are going through it… And by it we mean their annual molt!

08/11/2026

New book up on our storybook trail!

📚Emile and the Field 🌾 by Kevin Young
This is a sweet book written about a young boy who experiences a field throughout seasons. The illustrations, by Chioma Ehinama, are beautiful watercolor paintings and really stand out among the tallgrass prairie at the Anderson Conservation Area.

Our storybook trail has all new signs! We have 16 signs on a 1/4 loop at the Anderson Conservation Area. September’s story will be a fall-themed read… Any suggestions? 📖🍁🍂

08/05/2026

We are looking to do some work to our silt pond and the west pond at Pilot Grove park next spring/fall. We are looking for quotes for the following items, please refer to the image for site-specific references.
- Dredging the NW Silt pond (1.54 acres)
- Dredging the West pond (3.14 acres)
- 1,550 feet of rip rap along the shoreline of the West pond.

We are trying to budget what we can do with this project, these can be price estimates. If you have information, please send it to [email protected].

08/04/2026

We had a fantastic turnout for our stream sampling program yesterday! Our event was filled with knowledge sharing, open discussions, discoveries, and the collective goal of knowing our local ecology to better it for the future.

We found a few macroinvertebrates, and our chemical data reflects the stream is in "fair to good" condition. Seasonal changes bring fluctuations, and precipitation always plays a factor in what we are reading from these tests.

08/04/2026

Our August mommy and me hike that was rescheduled for August 9th has been canceled. Cass forgot she will be out of town for a wedding.... She is deeply sorry for the shuffling!

Join us FOR SURE on August 19th at Lake Icaria for the Moms Meet Up hike at 10 AM!