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Washington Evening Journal
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Iowa Master Conservationist Program recently held in Jefferson County
Iowa State University Extension and Outreach Jefferson County recently offered the Iowa Master Conservationist Program, a course that provides hands-on interaction with Iowa’s rich natural resources. The course lasted 6 weeks, meeting every other week, and running August through November.
The program took place at the Jefferson County Extension Office, as well as many local outdoor locations for field trips, providing participants with hands-on interaction with the diversity of the state’s natural resources. This program teaches about Iowa’s natural ecosystems and the diversity of conservation challenges and opportunities that exist in the region. Graduates of the course learned to make informed choices for leading and educating others to improve conservation in Iowa.
The program consists of approximately 12 hours of online curriculum and six face-to-face meetings. The online modules include lessons and resources by Iowa State subject-matter experts to be reviewed at the participants’ own pace at home.
Module topics include conservation history and science, understanding Iowa ecosystems, implementing conservation practices in human dominated landscapes, and developing skills to help educate others about conservation practices.
The six face-to-face meetings built upon the online modules. Each face-to-face meeting was led by local subject-matter experts to demonstrate how the principles covered in the online curriculum and play out locally. Our presenters for this course were: Kevin Andersen, JD Hollingsworth, Aaron Musselman, and Jason Steele of the NRCS, Steve Taylor of the Arbor Committee, Chad Dolan and Cassidy Robinson of the Iowa DNR, and Moni Hayne - entomologist.
For our field trips, participants visited Lamson Woods, the Cedar Creek Wetland, a private forest managed by Pete Tollenaere, the Nady Prairie, and a portion of the Crow Creek owned by Michael and Diana Porter. Kevin Andersen, Steve Taylor, and Brittney Tiller served as the Planning Committee Members. We greatly appreciate all our community partners for helping with this program.
If you are interested in learning more about this program, visit: https://naturalresources.extension.iastate.edu/programs/master-conservationist If you would like to be placed on a list to be contacted the next time this program is offered in Jefferson County, please call the Jefferson County Extension Office at 641-472-4166 or email Courtney Burkhalter, County Director, at cburk@iastate.edu.
