About 30 conservation projects are moving forward this year thanks to funding from the fees paid to use Webster County parks and recreation activities.

Webster County Conservation Director Matt Cosgrove updated the county Board of Supervisors on their progress Tuesday.

“Last July 1 this board let the conservation board start keeping 50 percent of their park user fee revenues,” Cosgrove said. “Since that time those rec fees have produced, on the 50 percent side, just a little more than $170,000, which translates into a little over $85,000 for projects.

“In the past the conservation board has had $5,000 to $10,000 worth of money to work with on capital improvements. So you can imagine what the board can accomplish on $5,000 to $10,000 — that barely does a roof on a shelter.”

Projects range from small, like the $500 nature center improvements at John F. Kennedy Memorial Park, to the nearly $80,000 boat ramp shelter and restroom project, and larger.

Staff members each looked at the conservation master plan and identified projects they wanted to see move forward, Cosgrove said. Now they give monthly reports on how things are progressing.

“These dollars the board has allowed us to keep has allowed us to leverage our dollars,” he said. “That $85,000 allows us to leverage additional funds through the REAP program, other state and federal dollars, city dollars, that sort of thing in the neighborhood of just over $600,000. Needless to say, it’s been a busy year.”

Hopefully the board sees this as a good investment, Cosgrove said.

Cosgrove also reported that out of last year’s more than $1 million budget, about $13,506 was left over. The supervisors approved his request Tuesday to transfer that into the Kennedy Park yurt project for this year.

Yurts are large permanent canvas structures that offer a similar experience to staying in a cabin. The park will eventually have two yurts available for rent. Each will have a deck, indoor plumbing and electricity, Cosgrove said.

“We have four potential spots for these. They’ll be set back in the woods, with the deck overlooking the lake, right on the edge of the golf course,” he said.

Each yurt costs about $14,000 just for the kit; with decking, plumbing and utilities they cost about $30,000 each.

A lot of counties are investing in cabins at $100,000 apiece, but the yurt should give the same return in rental money for less cost, Cosgrove said.

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The supervisors also heard from Cosgrove and Chad Shaeffer, Fort Dodge director of engineering and business affairs, on the Des Moines River and Lizard Creek Water Trails and Corridor plan.

This plan was approved by the Fort Dodge City Council a few weeks ago, Cosgrove said, and represents the culmination of two years of public outreach and information gathering.

In the city, two dams will be removed to improve the river for paddlers, and riverfront trails will eventually be built.

“It also breaks the river into these different project areas, looking at different corridors and who the lead agency is for implementing those,” Cosgrove said. “From the county side, it boils down to things we have been doing already, as far as water trails development, improving access sites.

“We’re already seeing a huge uptick in use of those water trail access sites, and looking at some opportunities for additional locations as well as enhancing the current ones. The last couple weekends we’ve had some of our spots have half a dozen vehicles on Saturday and Sunday, and some of them aren’t designed for that kind of traffic.”

The river plan is more than dams and access points. Cosgrove said it looks at the recreational standpoint and also environmental protection, river health and historic resources up and down the river.

“The other thing it looks at are the protection of the river corridor and how we as a public agency can work with private individuals through conservation easements,” he said, “and other programs to improve private property if individuals have an interest in working to protect the river corridor too.”

In the future the county and city could consider forming a Lizard Creek Watershed Authority, Supervisor Keith Dencklau said. This would open up further sources of funding for the river.