Woodland Restoration Begins in Beaverdale Park

A project to restore the woodlands in Beaverdale Park is getting underway this week.  The city of Des Moines Parks and Recreation Department, along with the city Engineering Department, have hired an environmental consultant to develop a restoration plan for the woodlands and drainage ways in the park, located at 34th Street and Adams Avenue.

Money for the restoration project comes from a state REAP grant (Resource Enhancement and Protection) awarded to Beaverdale Park by the Iowa Department of Natural Resources.  

The environmental consultant was expected to be in the park between April 11 and 13 to conduct an analysis and inventory of existing conditions in the wooded area of the park, which has become overgrown and largely unusable to the public.  The goal is to open up the wooded areas by removing invasive species, opening the canopy covering to improve sunlight penetration, removing undesirable and weedy tree species, performing a prescribed burn and and seeding appropriate vegetation.

The project also will work on stream banks in the park to help manage stormwater.

The woodland area of Beaverdale Park comprises about 20 of the park's 25 acres.  

The initial survey work will not interfere with park activities and the park will remain open.  The environmental consultants plan to be on site periodically throughout the spring and summer.  

The REAP work is part of a large master plan to renovate Beaverdale Park.  Although the REAP grant moves forward, the remaining funding for park renovation is a work in progress.  The City of Des Moines has not allocated any funds for the park in its five-year Capital Improvement Plan.  A separate fund-raising effort for new playground equipment is currently underway and will be accelerating in the near future.