J.N. "Ding" Darling

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"Ding" Darling was a Pulitzer Prize-winning cartoonist and an accomplished conservationist from Iowa. As a cartoonist, he worked for the Des Moines Register for nearly half a century and was nationally syndicated. As a conservationist, Darling held key state and federal conservation positions, was the first president of the National Wildlife Federation and the namesake for the "Ding" Darling National Wildlife Refuge in Florida. In 1934, the cartoonist blended his talent with his conservation work to design the first duck stamp.

Darling left a lasting impression on the conservation movement in the 20th Century and beyond. He wanted nothing more than to see the land that he remembered from his youth be protected for future generations. Darling wrote, "If I could put together all the virgin landscapes which I knew in my youth and show what has happened to them in one generation, it would be the best object lesson in conservation that could be printed."

The Iowa Natural Heritage Foundation is working with the J. N. "Ding" Darling Foundation to create a fund supporting Iowa environmental efforts in Ding's honor.

Special thanks to David L. Lendt, author of the book Ding: The Life of Jay Norwood Darling, for contributing most of this site's Ding Darling text. For information about ordering Lendt's award-winning biogragphy on Darling click here.