"For those who follow"

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INHF mission: "The Iowa Natural Heritage foundation builds partnerships and educates Iowans to protect, preserve and enhance Iowa's natural resources for future generations."

The Iowa Natural Heritage Foundation was founded in 1979 by three people who recognized that Iowa could not protect its natural resources through government alone: then-Governor Robert D. Ray, Gerry Schnepf of the Iowa Conservation Commission (now the Iowa DNR), and Robert Buckmaster, an avid outdoorsman from Waterloo. Frustrated by lost conservation opportunities, they created a private, nonprofit organization called the Iowa Natural Heritage Foundation "for those who follow."
Twenty-five years later, the first generation of "those who follow" is now here. How has INHF shaped the Iowa they inherited...and how is it shaping the Iowa they'll bequeath to future generations?

Building partnerships
From the beginning, INHF has worked with a wide array of partners ranging from private landowners, businesses and other nonprofits to all levels of government. Partners are most likely to request INHF assistance when they need either immediate action or help with complex, long-term projects.

John and Maxine Ham, photo by Bill Witt

"The Foundation's people have been really great to work with. They respect nature and they respect landowners. That was the perfect combination for us."

- John and Maxine Ham, Independence, protected land through INHF

As envisioned, INHF has sparked private action to support Iowa's natural resources. That's demonstrated in part through private giving: more than $41 million in private funds have been put to work through INHF over 25 years. Three-fourths of those dollars were given by individuals or the legacies or foundations they created. One-fourth was given by businesses and corporations, who invested heavily in creating INHF and still support its projects today. INHF has never received operations support from government appropriations. Millions in public funds have been invested in INHF land projects that are now owned and managed by public agencies—yet private contributions through INHF often have been essential to establishing new public areas.

One of INHF's current president's most oft-stated remarks is "We're not in the land business; we're in the people business." In this line of work, the two can never be separated.

Educating Iowans
Natural resources protection depends on citizens that know and appreciate those resources.

Toward that end, INHF has created or supported numerous education efforts: a conservation curriculum for the public schools; books for landowners, bicyclists and other audiences; a website that offers everything from educational articles to tips on exploring Iowa's great outdoors; our quarterly magazine (including the Ecology College series); and much more.

Protecting, preserving and enhancing Iowa's natural resources
Since 1979, INHF and our partners have protected more than 76,000 acres of Iowa's natural lands.

Working with all levels of government (and supported by private landowners and donors), we've created or expanded many of your favorite public parks, wildlife areas and trails. Today 2% of INHF's project sites are owned by federal agencies, 20% by the state, 43% by counties, 4% by miscellaneous owners and 11% by INHF (mostly pending projects that will eventually transfer to another public owner). Even our privately-owned sites (20%) offer public benefits-from scenic views to cleaner water.

Meanwhile, we've helped create local alliances to improve water quality in key Iowa rivers and lakes, promoted outdoor tourism (especially through our website and trail guides) and raised standards for land restoration. In addition to protecting land and wildlife, our work protects Iowa's economy and quality of life.

"As a member of Iowa's Natural Resource Commission, I see first-hand how INHF plays an important part in acquiring and protecting Iowa's natural resources. I'm proud to support the Foundation."

- Joni Schneider, Okoboji

Page updated May 2004

For more information, e-mail Cathy Engstrom, director of communications, or call (515) 288-1846.