- Yellow River State Forest
thumb|right|150px|Yellow_River_State_Forest,_Paint_Creek_segments_(EPA )]Yellow River State Forest is partly-forested land owned by the
Iowa Department of Natural Resources . It is located in the southeastern corner of Allamakee County, the most northeasterly of Iowa's counties. It is adjacent to theUpper Mississippi River National Wildlife and Fish Refuge and is just north ofEffigy Mounds National Monument in the bluff region of theUpper Mississippi River .The forest was established in 1933 by the
Civilian Conservation Corps with land at the mouth of the Yellow River. It has six sections: Luster Heights, Paint Creek North, Paint Creek South, Paint Rock, Waukon Junction and Yellow River, collectively aggregating 8,503 acres (34 km²). Notwithstanding the forest's name, the majority of the land is in the catchment of Paint Creek. Some of the forest is reclaimed farmland, but much of it was never farmed because of the steepness of the terrain.The State and the various Federal agencies actively cooperate in the management of the lands under their care, particularly in the use of fire to maintain
goat prairie s, which are found "on steep, thin soils with a south-southwest exposure. The best examples occur in northeast Iowa’s Paleozoic Plateau, but similar prairie can be found in other parts of the state." [ [http://www.nature.org/wherewework/northamerica/states/iowa/preserves/art2254.html "The Nature Conservancy in Iowa", "Community and Landform Descriptions"] ,The Nature Conservancy , retrievedJuly 6 ,2007 ]The forest is located in the
Driftless Area of Iowa, a region that was not glaciated during the last ice age. The geology of the region shows ancientSilurian Era formations. The Yellow River and Paint Creek have rugged, steep walled canyons, showing millennia of erosion, where glacial action would have otherwise smoothed out the features.While lumber is harvested, the forest has evolved into a four-season state park, with campgrounds, hunting, fishing, hiking and overnight backpacking, canoeing, cross-country skiing, and snowmobiling all being available. One may also trailer in horses for horsebackriding. About 150,000
board feet (350 m³) lumber of is annually harvested and processed by inmates at the minimum-securityLuster Heights Prison Farm . The prisoners do other work in the forest as well. There is also theYellow River Fire Tower which is located in the Paint Creek Unit.References
ources
* [http://www.iowadnr.com/forestry/yellowriver.html Iowa Department of Natural Resources]
* [http://www.iowadnr.gov/forestry/pdf/YELLOWRIVERbrochrWEB.pdf Brochure, Iowa DNR (*.pdf)]
* [http://www.iowaaudubon.org/IBA/sitedetail.asp?siteID=1 Iowa Audubon Society]
* [http://www.uiowa.edu/~xcski/local_ski.html Cross-country skiing]
* [http://www.mvp.usace.army.mil/environment/default.asp?pageid=1236 Paint Creek, Army Corps of Engineers]
* [http://oaspub.epa.gov/enviro/fii_master.fii_retrieve?postal_code=52146&all_programs=YES&program_search=1&report=1&page_no=1&output_sql_switch=TRUE&database_type=RCRAINFO EPA return]
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