Patrick Hayes Nominated
for Hagie Heritage Award

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Patrick (Pat) Hayes of Dubuque has been nominated for the 2003 Lawrence and Eula Hagie Heritage Award, one of the largest conservation awards in the state of Iowa.

This award is given annually by the Iowa Natural Heritage Foundation (INHF). It recognizes Iowans who have demonstrated an outstanding commitment to conservation of the natural environment. This year's Hagie Heritage Award winner will receive $1,000 and a hand-carved acorn sculpture donated by Dennis and Linda Schlict of Center Point, IA.

Hayes was nominated by Robert Walton, Executive Director of Dubuque County Conservation Board (DCCB), Brian Preston, secretary of Dubuque County Conservation Society (DCCS) and Chris Frommelt, a Trees for Dubuque and DCCS member.

Hayes is the building services manager for Alverno Apartments, a retirement and life care facility. According to his nominators, he has shown his commitment to conservation by exceeding his job duties. Hayes developed a recycling program for the apartment complex years before Dubuque started its city-wide program. He also aided the owners of the apartments in creating a composting program to further reduce landfill waste. In addition to providing resourceful means of protection, Hayes has also added native trees, shrubs, birdhouses and feeders to the complex.

"It just seems like the right thing to do," Hayes said.

His concern for preserving Iowa's natural heritage reaches far past his commitment at work. This past year, Hayes purchased a parcel of land containing one of the largest fens in Dubuque County, which had been slated for development. His purchase of the 16-acre fen and surrounding wetlands will protect not only the land, but the wildlife as well. According to Preston, Hayes is currently working with an Iowa Department of Natural Resources (DNR) biologist to construct a management plan, which includes planting hundreds of trees and shrubs around the fen.

In his spare time, Hayes has volunteered his time and knowledge at public education programs to promote stewardship and protection. He has also provided over 100 pre-cut birdhouses and feeders for the Dubuque County 4-H program so that youth in the county will become inspired to protect their natural heritage. According to Preston, Hayes has built 500 bluebird houses and numerous kestrel and wood duck houses. Hayes even goes as far as volunteering to plant trees and shrubs on private landowners' property at his own expense if they will maintain them.

"He has been successful in planting several hundred trees each year for the past 10 to 15 years, which has established excellent wildlife habitat," Walton wrote in his nomination letter.

"I guess I ran out of space in my own yard," Hayes said. "I've taken a lot of classes, and I like to see if what I learned actually works."

Hayes serves on the executive committee of the Dubuque County Conservation Society (DCCS), a nonprofit conservation group and is the chairperson of the Habitat and Birdhouse Committee. According to Preston, as habitat chairperson Hayes has overseen the planting of seven acres of prairie, 2000 trees and shrubs, the maintenance of fencing on property boundaries and the maintenance of nesting boxes on DCCS's property near Cascade.

Hayes has also served as a delegate to the Iowa REAP Congress, served on the board of Trees for Dubuque and the Freeway Corridor Committee and has been active in prairie restoration projects in the tri-state area.

"He frequently attends educational programs to expand his understanding of the natural world, often at this own expense, and then applies the latest information on best practices to his endeavors," Frommelt wrote in his nomination letter. "He shares both his knowledge and his enthusiasm for the preservation and enhancement of our natural resources." Hayes is a graduate of the Master Woodland Manager Program and of the Master Conservationalist Program.

For all of his efforts, Hayes received the "Outstanding Conservationist" award by DCCS for "outstanding leadership and countless hours of devotion to the cause of conservation."

Hayes is among seven Iowans nominated for the 2003 Hagie Heritage Award. A committee of INHF board of directors will determine the recipient of the award later this summer. Other 2003 Hagie nominees include Kathy Dice of Wapello, Dan Harskamp of Orange City, Diana Horton of Iowa City, Roger Heidt of Robins, Thomas Neenan of Center Point and Loren Hayes of Independence.

The Hagie Heritage Award was established by Jan Hagie Shindel of Florida and Ila Jeanne Hagie Logan of Moville, IA, in honor of their parents, Lawrence and Eula Hagie. This is the fourteenth year that INHF has presented the Hagie award.

INHF is a non-profit, member-supported organization that preserves, protects and enhances Iowa's natural resources "for those who follow." The group has protected nearly 75,000 acres in Iowa since 1979.

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