Johnson County Conservation wants volunteers in October: prairie seed harvests, bird feeder scrubbing and a crepe-paper oak tree

Johnson County Conservation in Iowa sent out its October 2026 volunteer newsletter on Oct. 5, and the to-do list is refreshingly low on spreadsheets and high on seeds, birds and crepe paper. Here is what the county is asking for help with this month.

Prairie seed harvests: volunteers can help collect native prairie seed on Wednesday, Oct. 7 at 5 p.m. at Valley View in Kent Park; Wednesday, Oct. 14 at 10 a.m. and Wednesday, Oct. 21 at 4:30 p.m. at Cedar River Crossing (North); Friday, Oct. 23 at 10 a.m. at the Dam Parking area in Kent Park; and Wednesday, Oct. 28 at 10 a.m. at both the Red Haw Shelter in Kent Park and the Malinda Reif Reilly Fen & Prairie. The newsletter marks the Oct. 21 and Oct. 23 sites as accessible locations. The full harvest list and registration are on the county's conservation events page.

Bird feeder cleaning: on Friday, Oct. 16, from 10 a.m. to noon at the Conservation Education Center in Kent Park, a naturalist will lead volunteers in taking apart, cleaning and reassembling the feeders used at Kent Park's bird blind. Afterward there is a guided hike to look for late-season migrating birds, and binoculars are available to borrow. The birds are not expected to say thank you, but they will eat better.

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Leaf-making party: on Thursday, Oct. 29, from 9 a.m. to noon at the Conservation Education Center in F.W. Kent Park, volunteers will make crepe-paper leaves to attach to a new oak tree display. It may be the only oak in Iowa that gains leaves in late October.

Visitor center hosts: from September through May, the Conservation Education Center in Kent Park is open for public visitor hours on the second Saturday of each month from noon to 3 p.m., with themed activities, the Discovery Room displays and the education animals. Hosts help keep the building open and greet visitors; it is an indoor, sit-down role, volunteers can pick one date or several, and a 30-minute training is provided before a host's first shift. The next second Saturday is Oct. 10.

Looking ahead: the county is already lining up help for its third Clothing Swap in January. Sorting shifts run Wednesday, Jan. 20 through Friday, Jan. 22, the swap itself is Saturday, Jan. 23 from 12:30 to 3 p.m., and cleanup follows from 3 to 4 p.m. The county says each previous swap kept more than 1,000 pounds of clothing out of the landfill, with leftovers donated to Shelter House in Iowa City and the North Liberty Food Pantry.

Sign-up links for each event, plus the full newsletter, are on the Johnson County Conservation website. The newsletter is published on an as-needed basis, so check the county's conservation events page for the latest openings.