I was raised in a small Colorado town near the mountains and have always been amused and accustomed to the oddities that come with it such as having a litter of fox kits living under my house or being told a bear wandered into the area and to stay inside. I became used to being able to visit natural lakes, hike paths where moose are suddenly twenty feet away from me, have chipmunks try to steal my lunch and just be near something so pure and natural and beautiful.
I’m worried I’m beginning to lose that in Iowa.
I want to be able to connect back to that feeling and see what Iowa has to offer. To learn the best places to hike or camp or picnic near a lake or just get lost for a couple hours. I know Iowa may not boast the same association with robust wildlife or nature preserves as the Rocky Mountains but I think working somewhere that serves all of the remarkable natural beauty that we do have would be a perfect experience for me.
I’m still relatively new to Iowa and am fortunate to have been able to spend one summer here, working for a company that really embraces Iowa and everything it has to offer. Iowa Natural Heritage Foundation has taught me a lot about what Iowa does have to offer. We may not be interested in keeping bears around or have towering mountains cloaked in snow visible from every lot in the state, but we have the Loess Hills, the Mississippi River, and few gorgeous natural and wild areas remaining. I’ve explored many of Iowa’s 99 counties, worked with intelligent land stewardship interns learning about Iowa’s wild world, and talked to intelligent professionals about all of what this state has and what it doesn’t.
Iowa is known for its fertile soil and prolific agriculture. That’s great for farmers but not so great for Iowa’s water. Or native prairies. Or nature. Or bears.
Even if Iowa has some work to do in terms of taking care of the environment, working for INHF has been a valuable experience learning why we don’t have bears and what we could potentially do to welcome them back. I’ve also learned about native and non-native plants, how to best chop down thistles, where to check myself for ticks and, consequently, how to kill a tick, and that Iowa’s not nearly as big a fan of bears as I am but I guess that’s okay.
For now.
