O’Brien County, Iowa — O’Brien County is one of six northwest Iowa counties to be named as recipients of a $20,000 matching grant to develop a broad and long-term strategy for parks and trail development.
In addition to O’Brien County, Buena Vista, Clay, Dickinson, Emmet and Palo Alto counties were named as recipients of this grant. Each of the six counties has pledged $3500 to support the grant request. The planning effort will be led by the Northwest Iowa Planning and Development Commission.
While multiple other areas around the state have received similar planning grants, only the Grant Wood Loop in southeast Iowa has received the Iowa Parks Foundation Implementation Grant.
According to its website, the Iowa Parks Foundation “exists to strengthen the connection between Iowa’s people and their parks.” The organization works with the Iowa Department of Natural Resources and the Green Ribbon Commission, which is an organization created by Gov. Terry Branstad, to determine how best to ensure relevance and sustainability of Iowa’s parks and recreation systems.
