Casey Land Proposal Project

A couple autumns ago, a 1946 ISU engineering graduate donated 76 acres to the ISU Creative Writing Department. The land, valued at $201,000, was donated to the university by Everett Casey of Detroit, Michigan. He asked that the land be preserved in its natural state. Casey took a writing class at Iowa State that he credits as being fundamental to what he later did as a Detroit-area attorney and owner of a manufacturing company.

For your next assignment, we’re inviting you to visit the Everett Casey Nature Reserve. You will work in groups to research either the history of the land or the ecology of the land or possible uses for the land. By the end of this unit you will present us with either an analysis of the land or a plan for its use. Your Casey Land “Almanac” will consist of a map that you’ve created, a visual, and either a four page paper or a website. The final week of class we will be presenting these almanac projects in the large lecture classroom.

In order to give you more direction, several ISUComm instructors and I have broken up the assignment into six different focus groups. I provided several questions for each category in order to get you started but do not limit yourself to these prompts.

1-CSA (Community Supported Agriculture)-If we were to set up a CSA on the Casey Land site what steps would we take? What considerations would we have to take into account? How could we fund a CSA project? How could it benefit the creative writing program and the community?

2-Habitat Management-What species do you see on the land and how can we most effectively create a fruitful habitat for those species? Do you notice any invasive plant or animal species? What is the best way to moderate the plant and/or animal life on the property?

3-Prairie Restoration-If we were to restore part of the land to native prairie, what steps would we take? How would we fund the restoration of the prairie? What groups would we contact? What are some of the benefits of a prairie restoration project?

4-History-For this category I want you to examine some of the natural and human history of the land. What has happened on the land so far? Your final project would be a website rather than a proposal paper.

5-Creek Management-What plant or animal species do you see in the creek? How can we provide an effective habitat for them? What impact have humans had on the creek? How can we manage erosion and other effects of having water on the land?

6-Outdoor Classroom-How could the land be used as an outdoor learning space? What aspects of the land would you want to include in some sort of outdoor classroom? How would you go about creating a learning space on the land?

Links of Interest:

http://www.news.iastate.edu/news/2009/sep/MFApreserve
http://www.foundation.iastate.edu/site/News2?page=NewsArticle&id=8443
http://blogs.universitybusiness.com/2009/10/university-nature-preserves-inspire-students.html


On Saturday, April 2, 9:00-2:00

-Meet in parking lot 41 (near the intersection of Osborn and Wallace Roads, north of the power plant). You can park there on weekends.
-http://www.fpm.iastate.edu/maps (Check Parking Lots on the left Layers menu to see lot numbers.)
-Come prepared to get dirty, seedy, and possibly wet. It may be muddy at this time of year so wear appropriate footwear. Be prepared for cool weather. You should consider bringing a rain coat.

Bring:
-pen and paper (notebook)
-$3 to cover transportation
-water

-camera

Consider bringing:
Field guides, lunch, sunblock / insect repellant, rain coat