After months of wrangling, it appears the federal government will purchase one thousand acres around northeast Iowa’s Effigy Mounds National Park. The park, near McGregor, features over 200 Indian burial mounds. Park superintendent Phyllis Ewing says the extra land will protect the park from encroaching development.Ewing says the one thousand acres to be purchased will connect the park with nearby Yellow River Forest. She says that will keep erosion from encroaching on the area and protect endangered species.Ewing says the Effigy Mounds National Monument is unique because there aren’t very many Indian burial mounds left. She says the mounds were plentiful years ago, but over the years they’ve been destroyed through development.The U-S House had approved the land purchase, but a drafting error in the U-S Senate put the project in doubt. Democrat congressional candidate Donna Smith of Dubuque accused republican Congressman Jim Nussle of “being asleep at the switch” on the issue. Nussle yesterday said he’s been assured by a House committee chairman that the land purchase language will be included in another bill.
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