Camp helps teach outdoor skills

A group of central Iowa officials plans a first-of-its kind center in Iowa to focus on outdoor skills like camping, canoeing and backpacking. Ben Van Gundy of the Polk County Conservation Board says similar facilities exist in Minnesota, Wisconsin and Colorado, but not in Iowa.Van Gundy says 40 counties have environmental centers, but none have that kind of focus in their education programs. The group hopes to raise a lot of money for the project. the board of supervisors has pledged one-million and he says they want to raise four-and-a-half million in the next two years..The “Yellow Banks Outdoor Discovery Center” will be built in the southeast corner of Polk County. Van Gundy believes this new facility could help the state’s businesses.The project calls for construction of an outdoor amphitheater and an indoor wildlife blind, as well as other amenities. The facility is to be built in Yellow Banks Park, which sits on bluffs overlooking the Des Moines River.