Noah Hood, Bur Oak Land Trust AmeriCorps stewardship technician, cuts a hazard tree in Cedar Rapids, Iowa. Photo by Meredith Roemerman

Bur Oak Land Trust was the Featured Land Trust in this month’s Midwest Field Notes email update from Land Trust Alliance, a national land conservation organization. LTA chose to feature Bur Oak’s “feel-good story” of the work the organization did following the devastating August derecho.

Bur Oak Land Trust supports community after natural disaster

In early August, a derecho storm hit Iowa with 100-mile per hour winds — described as equivalent to a Category 3 hurricane or a 40-mile wide tornado. The devastation was widespread and that is when the accredited Bur Oak Land Trust went to work. Executive Director Jason Taylor explains, “Service to the community is at the core of our mission and when disaster strikes, we’re there to lend a hand.”

Bur Oak staff and AmeriCorps crew used their skill, equipment, determination and hundreds of hours of time to help Iowans across the state. The crew deployed for three weeks to Cedar Rapids – an area hit particularly hard by the storm — as part of an AmeriCorps Disaster Response Team to clear hazard trees and other debris from neighborhoods. Bur Oak also pitched in by raising funds for Meskwaki Nation — the Sac and Fox Tribe of the Mississippi in Iowa and cutting and clearing trees on the Settlement.

“We’re proud to be a part of a resilient community and appreciate those who support us and the work we do,” Taylor said.