Iowa Natural Heritage Foundation: Home on the Prairie

Judy Felder

“Part of Sandy’s gift is teaching the next generation how to be good stewards of Iowa’s precious prairie remnants.”
–Mary Brown

If you knew Richard S. (Sandy) Rhodes II, you knew his passion for prairies.

Bitten by the prairie bug at mid-life, Sandy soon became a regular volunteer on local restorations. His fierce dedication to the cause of protecting Iowa’s precious prairie remnants was backed up by countless hours of hands-on labor.

In 1997 Sandy and two friends, Judy Felder and Mary Brown, purchased a rough farm and patiently set about restoring the native prairie hiding within its overgrazed pastures. Today “Indiangrass Hills” is a growing natural oasis in Iowa County.

Stricken with cancer in 2005, Sandy spent his final months ensuring that their hard work would endure and expand. The three co-owners donated a conservation easement on the property to the Iowa Department of Natural Resources. They donated the land itself — with individual reserved life estates — to INHF.

Sandy also provided for the land’s future health through his estate. INHF’s new Richard S. (Sandy) Rhodes II Fund will help to acquire and restore native prairie remnant sites, including Indiangrass Hills, well into the future.

Much of the gift provides annual income, in perpetuity, for continued land stewardship at Indiangrass Hills.

Another portion helped INHF purchase additional quality natural areas, with land management goals in keeping with Indiangrass Hills. They are Kothenbeutel Prairie, Wildin Prairie North and Faust Farm.

The final portion of the estate donation ensures that Sandy’s goals are shared with future generations. The new Rhodes Interns, part of INHF’s summer land stewardship crew, will work at Indiangrass Hills, the three sites named above and about 20 other natural areas each year.

“Sandy believed that committed stewardship is just as important as ownership in ensuring long-term health and protection for natural areas,” said Joe McGovern, INHF’s Land Stewardship Director. “His estate gift ensures that we’ll always have the financial and people resources to properly manage Indiangrass Hills, the three properties he helped us purchase and many others throughout the state.”