INHF Board Spotlight

Posted on May 25, 2023 in Blog

INHF Board Spotlight

This blog series highlights and acknowledges our dedicated board members. Lending their time and talents on a volunteer basis for the protection of Iowa’s land, water and wildlife, INHF’s 34-person board is an incredible show of dedication and expertise. INHF board members come from every region of the state, connecting our work with communities, landowners and organizations that help to make more conservation happen. See a full list of board members here.

Susan Salterberg

Susan grew up on a small farm near Fairfield, Iowa, and experienced the freedom of country life.

As a child, she remembers eating lots of homemade ice cream and watermelon. She and her siblings picked and helped put up garden produce, including her dad’s specialties — strawberries and sauerkraut. They played kick-the-can, hiding behind lacey stalks of mid-summer asparagus and steering clear of the black and yellow garden spiders.

She loves being outdoors and sees it as medicine for her physical, mental, and emotional health. She hikes, walks, bikes, gardens, picnics, and does about anything else that soothes her nature-loving bones. The lush hills of northeast Iowa, the fall leaves at Palisades-Kepler State Park and the limestone bluffs at Backbone State Park are some of her favorite Iowa places.

Susan was drawn to INHF early in her career as an environmental educator. She appreciates staff members’ active facilitation of partnerships across the state, and ability to “work across the aisle” with state legislators.

She knows it takes all types of organizations to sustain Iowa, but--for her--INHF stands apart because staff and partners directly save acres from development. A board member since 2005, Susan says, “When we protect land and water, we protect so many other things I value--quiet spaces to restore us, and an Iowa that supports the health of all future generations.”