FINCHFORD - A 90-acre, 70-year-old former quarry is about to become Black Hawk County's newest public nature preserve.

The former Yokum Quarry, most recently operated by Basic Materials Corp. for more than 20 years and reclaimed as a natural area, has been turned over by that company to the Black Hawk County Conservation Board and will be open to the public Sunday.

A dedication celebration is planned from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. that day at the quarry, located just north of the T-intersection of North Union and Winslow roads in rural Finchford, north of Cedar Falls. A dedication ceremony is scheduled for 1 p.m.

Basic Materials, now known as BMC Aggregates, the County Conservation Board, the Iowa Department of Natural Resources, the University of Northern Iowa geology department and various other entities will host a variety of activities in conjunction with Earth Science Week, including geology field trips, a fishing derby in the quarry lake with poles provided, fossil searches and various natural displays on the reclamation effort.

The preserve, to be called Turkey Ridge Wildlife area, which includes a lake surrounded by scenic rock bluffs, is adjacent to the west fork of the Cedar River and sits between the county's Washington-Union Access and Thunderwoman Park.

BMC manager Chris Dinsdale and Conservation Board executive director Vern Fish said the two entities will continue to add natural features to the area over the next several years, including adding soil and seeding the area to create additional natural habitat. Secondary roads crews with the County Engineer's Office also are assisting with the effort.

"That partnership between secondary roads and Basic Materials has come together very nicely for us," Fish said.

"We've got water down below; we're going to plant a small prairie and plant some more trees. And eventually we'll close this in and create some sort of wildlife habitat," Fish said. "This will be a wildlife management area. We're not going to have a campground. It will be a walk-in wildlife area. You'll be able to hunt; you'll be able to hike."

"You have basically 5 to 6 acres of water, on average 30 foot deep, all year round," Dinsdale said of the quarry lake. The exact fish population is not known, but panfish and bass are believed to be present. The company also created the fish habitat in the quarry lake.

"You have the west fork of the Cedar River that's a boundary line to the north; you have all this timber ground; you're going to have prairie grass. And working with Black Hawk County, it's just a neat partnership all the way around," Dinsdale said.

"Even when we were still operating out here, you'd see turkey, deer, everything would just come strolling across," he said.

BMC and Conservation Board officials said a number of proposals had been suggested for the area - including residential development - but the two entities thought a restored preserve was its best use.

"You had a lot of interested parties out here - from hunting clubs to development," BMC geologist Sherman Lundy said. But the BMC board decided earlier this year to turn it over to the county for a park. "Chris, our manager, is oriented in that direction," he said.

The area also provides an additional buffer for the Cedar's west fork. "The west fork is an absolutely gorgeous canoe route," Fish said. "One of the things we're working on right now is a federal grant to create a water trail from Thunderwoman all the way down to McFarland Park (near La Porte City), through Waterloo," with portages around the Cedar Falls and Waterloo dams. "This (acquisition) helps cement that greenbelt. Instead of having a quarry with loud noises and heavy equipment and blasting, now you have another wildlife area adjacent to that stream. So it enhances that wildlife corridor and that paddling trail."

The county now has almost a continuous greenbelt from Thunderwoman to the quarry. "From a wildlife standpoint, it's important, and from a recreational standpoint, it's important," Fish said.

"Basic Materials has gone way out of the way. They've done everything we asked. They've worked very closely with this, and we really appreciate it. This is a major donation," Fish said, similar to those made for the expansion of Hartman Reserve Nature Center in the early 1990s.

"We need to take some photos of this," for comparison in future years, Fish said. "In 10 or 15 years, I hope to see trees and prairie grass. We know we've got some wildlife out here, but I think we can really create a major habitat out here for a variety of things with the water and the prairie and the forest and the greenbelt."

More information about the dedication celebration may be obtained by calling Basic Materials at (319) 235-6583. The Conservation Board also is seeking volunteers to assist with tree and other vegetation plantings and other aspects of the reclamation effort and can be contacted at 266-0328.

Contact Pat Kinney at (319) 291-1484 or pat.kinney@wcfcourier.com.