An Iowa City couple is helping bring the bison back to Plymouth County.

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Donating close to $450,000 to the Nature Conservancy, Gregg Oden and Lola Lopes are helping the conservation group buy and maintain about 160 acres just off Highway 12 in southwest Plymouth County.

The land, an addition to the Broken Kettle Grasslands in the Loess Hills, will be the home for the bison that originally roamed Iowa's prairies.

"They're looking to bring them in next summer," said Oden. "They'll begin with a small group and increase them as they see fit."

The carrying capacity for the grasslands is estimated at about 250 animals, Lopes added.

The bison are being moved from an out-of-state herd, and still hold purebred status.

"Many bison now have cattle genes," Oden explained.

The bison will be sharing the hilly grassland with other native wildlife, including the prairie rattlesnake. Broken Kettle Grasslands are home to the only prairie rattlesnakes still in Iowa.

The bison's grazing will also promote growth of prairie grasses, which in turn makes a good habitat for birds.

"Bison originally were a natural part of the prairie," Oden said. "They're better adapted and suited to this country then cattle because they evolved with it."

He and Lopes recently took a hike through Broken Kettle Grasslands and then through the land they helping the Conservancy acquire.

"The blazing star is just about ready to burst into bloom," Lopes said. "It's really terrific how many of the natural species are out there. We're learning a lot."

They didn't run into any of the prairie rattlesnakes yet, although Oden said he wouldn't mind seeing one -- from a distance.

The newly-donated land has a small valley running through the middle, some cropland that will be restored to prairie, and rolling hills blanketed with native prairie. Soon bison will dot the hills.

"Right now it's open for people to hike through, but once the bison are there, they won't allow people to roam among the bison," Oden said.

The public will be able to come see the herd from the parts of the preserve the bison don't go.

The bison, Lopes explained, aren't small animals. Bigger than cows, brown, shaggy with curly-haired big heads.

"They're handsome in their way," Oden added. "But they are brutes."

"You wouldn't want one to walk over you," Lopes laughed.

The Iowa City duo is not new to the Nature Conservancy. They've been members for about 30 years.

"I've served on the board of trustees for the last several years," Lopes said, "and after seeing all the good things that still need to be done, we decided we wanted to find a way to do something now."

When the idea of an addition to Broken Grasslands came up at a January meeting, she and Oden approached the group with the possibility of a donation.

The Broken Kettle Grasslands owned by by the Nature Conservancy tallies up to several thousand acres. Many landowners around it have also put their land into easement, so the size of the protected area is larger.

For Oden, the area has familiar ties.

"This land is within a few miles of where Gregg grew up," Lopes explained.

Oden explained that he was raised in Elk Point, and the grasslands were just across the Big Sioux River.

"These hills," he said, "were always there on the horizon."