Message from Shimek Forester John
Byrd:
Thank you for everyone’s help in completing the stalls in the new horse shelter in the Upper Campground...the last one! It is a relief to get that project done and we can move on to another project. I would never have completed getting the horse shelters done without a lot of help from volunteers. Now we have three good quality horse shelters that should last a long time.
As I look to the future for improvements to Shimek facilities, my goal is to look hard at the trail side of things. Campgrounds are still not perfect, but the reason people come to Shimek is to ride trails. It is unfortunate that I was unable to do much trail work this year due to wet conditions most of the time. There are some ambitious plans for the future but time is the limiting factor, especially with 9,500 acres to manage. I will be looking to volunteers to remain vigilant in our fight to protect the resource and maintain a safe and healthy trail system.
In closing, I would like to thank all volunteers in 2014, whether you helped 1 hour or 200 hours, every hour counts. Thank you and we will look to a successful 2015.
John Byrd, Area Forester
Iowa Department of Natural Resources
Shimek State Forest, 33653 Rte J56, Farmington, IA 52626
Phone: 319-878-3811 e-mail: john.byrd@dnr.iowa.gov
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Completion of Horse Shelter #3 -Upper Campground
The last of the dilapidated, roofless horse shelters has been replaced with a new, metal roofed structure with 10 stalls. The stalls are made from rough cut oak lumber taken from Shimek Forest. Construction of the new ten horse stall shelter was made possible by a grant from the Lee County Charitable Fund, funds raised by Friends of Shimek, Friends of Shimek volunteer labor and both DNR funds and staff labor. The Lee County Charitable Fund supports only projects in Lee County in the fields of arts and culture, community betterment, education, health and human services. The grant to Friends of Shimek was used to improve the equestrian campground facilities at Shimek's Lick Creek Unit in Lee County. The grant of $4,200 was combined with $2,000 raised by Friends of Shimek and lumber, hardware and gates provided by DNR to construct the new horse shelter. Use of the horse shelters is free to equestrians. Forester John Byrd and crew cut trees and sawed the heavy, rough-cut 2 x8” boards that were used for stall construction. Once the roofed structure was completed, 15 Friends of Shimek volunteers assisted by Forester John Byrd and DNR Technician Cody Brothersen installed the stall walls and gates –this was a hard but enjoyable day of hauling very heavy boards, cutting them to length, countersinking holes, placing boards, drilling holes, inserting carriage bolts and adding a washer and nut, tightening the nuts, then cutting off the bolts, followed by smoothing any jagged edges where the bolt was cut---for 234 bolts! Ten gates with chains were hung also. Volunteers were: Doug Moothart ( FOS Construction Coordinator), Bonnie Moothart, Marsha and Bob Achenbach, Ray Conrad, Ann Bennett, Bob Bender, Art Duke, Ringo Covert, Pam Larson, Al Brown, Pat Pollpeter, Dennis Hunter and Pam Ball. Both Forester John Byrd and DNR Technician Cody Brothersen also worked on the stall construction with the volunteers. The work was completed by mid-afternoon. A total of 110.5 volunteer hours were donated toward stall construction. Volunteers enjoyed snacks provided by Bonnie Moothart and Lora Conrad and lunch provided by Ann Bennett.
From: This unsafe old set of pens ----
To:
A proud group of FOS Volunteers and Forester John Byrd celebrate the completion of Horse Shelter 3!
More photos below (by Lora Conrad) of the construction of the stalls:
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