Good stewardship and land conservation are central to Iowa Wildlife Center's mission. Protecting these natural habitats ensures local wildlife populations remain healthy and diverse by securing vital food, water, shelter, and nesting spaces. In the very beginning, we focused on procuring enough land that held space for our future wildlife hospital and education center as well as offering good habitat for the resident wildlife and a place to release selected patients. With our first generous donation, we were able to purchase 75 acres of diverse habitat and begin reconstructing and restoring it to conditions that resemble pre-settlement Iowa: tallgrass prairie, wetlands, savanna, and woodland — all within a small footprint that is connected to the larger Des Moines River Corridor. Throughout the years, it has been an outdoor classroom, a place for wild patients to become conditioned prior to release, a place for family educational events, and a place of solitude and quiet in the midst of an ever-increasing humancentric noisy world.