Summer 2000 News & Notes from the Leopold Center

Jim Pease, an Iowa State University Extension wildlife specialist and Leopold Center grant cooperator, has received the Aldo Leopold Environmental Education Award from the Iowa Conservation Education Council. Pease helped develop a program to train "master conservationists," who donate a matching number of hours in their own communities to educate others and work on conservation projects. Pease has a two-year Center grant to expand the program. See photo story on page 4 about one of last fall's classes.

Dennis Keeney, who retired as Leopold Center director last December, was presented the 1999 Individual Award for Leadership in Environmental Stewardship in March by the Center for a Livable Future at Johns Hopkins University. The award is for his "pioneering leadership and foresight in linking agricultural sustainability, rural community development and water quality" during his tenure at the Center. He also has received the 2000 Soil Science Distinguished Service Award from the American Society of Agronomy.

Mark Lambert, a long-time Iowa public interest advocate, lobbyist and lawyer, is the new executive director of the Iowa Environmental Council. He replaces Linda Appelgate, who left earlier this year to pursue international public service. Most recently, Lambert had worked as attorney and lobbyist for Planned Parenthood and assistant director and lobbyist for the Iowa Civil Liberties Union.

As a participating organization in Iowa Earth Year 2000, the Leopold Center encourages Iowans to get involved in a national environmental event, the Great North American Secchi Dip-In. During this July 1-16 event, volunteers will learn how to monitor water quality, including 159 streams, lakes and rivers in Iowa that do not meet clean water standards. For more information, contact the Iowa Earth Year staff at (515) 281-8401. Join the Secchi Dip-in July 1-16! Check water quality in your area

A handbook on grazing developed with funds from the Leopold Center is featured in one of the nation's most respected catalogs for fencing and grazing supplies. Iowa State University's Pasture Management Guide is "the best modern guide we've seen by far," notes Stan Potratz in his spring 2000 Premier catalog. "[It is] highly recommended for all Midwest cattle and sheep producers." The guide was funded primarily by the Leopold Center and a grant from the USDA's Sustainable Agriculture and Research Education (SARE) program. The guide also is available from ISU Extension.

Friends of the Earth is distributing a new publication, Protecting Groundwater from Pesticides: A Clean Water Action Guide, free of charge as long as supplies last. The guide also is available at http://www.foe.org/safefood/groundwater/. 

A Leopold Center-funded publication has received top honors from members of the Entomological Society of America. The handbook, Integrated Pest Management of Alfalfa Insects in the Upper Midwest, IPM 58, was selected as the outstanding extension publication for the past year in the North Central area, and received the 2000 Entomology Educational Project Award. The 48-page color guide is a project of the Leopold Center's Integrated Pest Management issue team and ISU Extension.

Iowans lost more than an administrator when Paul Johnson resigned in April as director of the Department of Natural Resources. Johnson was a key player behind the landmark 1987 Iowa Groundwater Protection Act that established the Leopold Center. Johnson also is a leading advocate of Aldo Leopold's philosophy that has guided the Center's work over the past 11 years. He returns to his family farm in Decorah. Lyle Asell, an assistant to Johnson and a member of the Leopold Center Advisory Board, has been named interim IDNR director.

Practical Farmers of Iowa (PFI) and Iowa State University received the National Award for Environmental Sustainability, one of 16 programs chosen nationwide for the honor by the nonprofit environmental group, Renew America. The award recognized an 11-year PFI-ISU partnership, which includes numerous on-farm research and demonstration projects supported by the Leopold Center. The Center has sponsored PFI cooperators the past two years through a funded partnership directed to on-farm research. A Center-funded competitive grant also helped PFI build its Field to Family local food system project. The award was presented in Washington, D.C. during Earth Week activities.


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